Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, Faculty of EAIT

• School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, Faculty of EAIT

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

• Advanced transmission electron microscopy characterisation

• Full-time, Fixed term for up to 3 years

• Visa sponsorship may be available for this appointment

• Based at our picturesque and Vibrant 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.

Everyone here has a role to play. As a member of our professional staff cohort, you will be actively involved in working towards our vision of a better world. By supporting the academic endeavour across teaching, research, and the student life, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to activities that have a lasting impact on our community.

Join a community where excellence is at the core of our culture, contributions are valued and a range of benefits and rewards are available, such as:

• 26 weeks paid parental leave or 14 weeks paid primary caregiver leave

• 17% superannuation contributions

• 17.5% annual leave loading

• Health and wellness discounts – fitness passport access, free yearly flu vaccinations, discounted health insurance, and access to our Employee Assistance Program for staff and their immediate family

• On campus childcare options

• Cheap parking (from just $5.75 a day)

• Salary packaging options

About This Opportunity 

An exciting opportunity exists for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow skilled in advanced transmission electron microscopy characterisation. This position is for a 3-year appointment and will look to further develop advanced transmission electron microscopy imaging methods for electrocatalyst and membrane materials in carbon dioxide electrolysers. The purpose of this work is to build a better understanding of the structure-property relationships in carbon dioxide electrolysers to allow for improved material design.  

This position is part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence, Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (GETCO2). GETCO2 is a national research Centre which is administered by the University of Queensland (UQ) and has Nodes at the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, Monash University, RMIT, Griffith University and University of Adelaide.

GETCO2 aims to advance carbon dioxide electrochemistry innovations to enable the conversion of carbon dioxide into valuable products and transition Australia to a carbon neutral economy. This Centre expects to generate new knowledge using experimental and computational approaches to develop systems-level understanding for industry-ready carbon dioxide utilisation technologies. Further information about GETCO2 can be found here .

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Design and execute detailed experimental procedures for conducting high resolution or in-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) experiments to understand underlying mechanisms in carbon dioxide electrolyser materials – electrocatalysts or membranes.

• Correlate in-situ performance with standard ex-situ characterisation.

• Build links and collaborate with other researchers/academics who can support the tool development.

• Write and edit scientific works and publish high-quality reports and scholarly papers.

• Support development of research proposals for funding in aligned topics.

Supervision and Researcher Development

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

Teaching

• Contribute to related coursework teaching if required.

Citizenship and Service

• Demonstrate citizenship behaviours that align to the UQ values.

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

• Perform a range of administrative functions in the laboratory and/or research group as needed, including an ability and willingness to serve as a laboratory manager if required.

• Contribute to the development of a positive safety culture in the School.

• Any other duties as reasonably directed by your supervisor.

This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position for up to 3 years at an Academic level A. The full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $77,324.85 - $102,945.12, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $90,470.08 - $120,445.79 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.

About You  

• Completed PhD in Materials Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Physical Chemistry, Physics or a related field.

• Demonstrated competence in:

  • Advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques such as high resolution (S)TEM, EELS, 4D-STEM and diffraction related techniques.

  • In-situ TEM technique development preferably for electrochemical cells.

  • Understanding of electrochemistry for energy devices.

• Evidence of publications in reputed refereed journals and presenting at conferences.

• Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding.

• Evidence of contributions to supervising honours and/or Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students.

• Some experience in meaningful internal service roles, promoting a positive safety culture and contributions towards external activities

• Demonstrated:

  • High level of drive and enthusiasm.

  • High level of interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.

  • Commitment to UQ’s values.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: Visa sponsorship may be 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. 

Relocating from interstate or overseas? You can find out more about life in Australia’s Sunshine State here.

 
Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Associate Professor Ruth Knibbe . 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 addressing the ‘About You’ section  

• 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 30 April 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (Job Reference Number - R-37256).