Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Research Officer - Minerals Processing - School of Chemical Engineering

• School of Chemical Engineering – Faculty of EAIT

• Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50

• Minerals Processing

• 3x Full-time positions (100%)

• Fixed term up to 12 months (potential 2-year extension subject to funding)

• Visa sponsorship is not available for these appointments

• Based at St Lucia Campus

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.

At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. UQ has made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.

As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.

About This Opportunity 

We are offering 3 full-time Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer positions.

One of these positions will work on a project awarded under Round 3 Global Innovation Linkages program which provides funding to help Australian businesses and researchers collaborate with global partners. The project addresses persistent froth which occurs in minerals and energy resources processing and presents both operational challenges and safety risks. The placement will focus on two new patented de-aeration technologies, participate in the design and scale up of these technologies and trial the new technologies in processing plants in three countries.

The second Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer will work on a linkage project supported by Australian Research Council, Newmont USA Limited and VEGA Industries to reject pyrrhotite in copper and gold processing using innovative surface chemistry.

The third Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer will work on another linkage project supported by Australian Research Council, Newmont USA Limited and BHP to identify and mitigate the deleterious components in process water during gold flotation and leaching.

These placements will work with a large research team with team members coming from both the industry and academia in different countries. They will also participate in supervising a number of PhD students working on the project.

We aim to produce high quality conference and journal papers to communicate our research outcomes and deliver high quality oral presentations and reports to industry sponsors. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer will actively participate in this publication process.

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Design and conduct experiments in the laboratory to define problems, formulate research questions and develop solutions. 

• Operate and maintain laboratory equipment to match the industry operation and use sophisticated instruments or modelling tools to probe interfacial phenomena. 

• Work in the resources processing plants to demonstrate the benefits from applying the new technologies.

• Publish scholarly papers in high quality conferences and international journals and deliver high quality reports and oral presentations to industry sponsors. 

• Attend and assist in organising project review meetings and research group seminars. 

• Take an active role in attracting external competitive funding and expanding the existing research scopes and programs.

Supervision and Researcher Development

• Contribute to the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).

• Demonstrates personal effectiveness in supervision and the management of researcher development.

• Effective lead and develop supervisee performance and conduct by providing feedback, coaching, and professional development.

• As appropriate, manage research support staff effectively throughout the employee lifecycle in accordance with University policy and procedures.

• Working to promptly resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with University policy and procedures.

Citizenship and Service

• Demonstrate citizenship behaviours that align to the UQ values.

• Shows leadership of self through collaboration and active participation in priority activities for the unit

• Provide support to other academic positions and unit operations as needed during other team members absences.

• Contribute to internal service roles and administrative processes as required, including participation in decision-making and service on relevant committees.

• Collaborate in service activities external to the immediate organisation unit.

• Begin to develop external links and partnerships by cultivating relationships with industry, government departments, professional bodies and the wider community.

These are research focused positions. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance .

These positions are full-time (100%), fixed-term for up to 12 months (potential 2-year extension subject to funding) at an Academic level A. The full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $75,808.68 - $100,926.59, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $88,696.16 - $118,084.11 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad:  from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You  

Alongside the completion or near completion of a PhD in Minerals Processing, Metallurgy Engineering or a related discipline area, we are seeking candidates able to demonstrate:

• Research or work experience in minerals processing.

• Strong expertise in interfacial chemistry or physics (such as modelling and simulation) required by the research in the field of minerals processing or metallurgy engineering.

• Strong ability to conduct novel research with limited supervision.

• Strong ability to generate high-impact research publications and oral presentations.

• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team consisting of research high degree students, research assistants, industry senior technical experts and project leaders.

• Ability to supervise research high degree students.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment. 

• Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits.

Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Professor Yongjun Peng . For application queries, please contact [email protected] stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.

Want to Apply? 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Resume

• Cover letter

• Responses to the ‘About You’ section

Other Information 

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion .  We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to [email protected] .

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close on Tuesday 20 February 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-34710).