Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer - Centre of Natural Gas, Faculty of EAIT

• Centre for Natural Gas – Faculty of EAIT

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

• Research project – Energy Transition Modelling

• Full-time (100%), fixed term up to 6 months (potential extension subject to funding )

• Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment

• Advertisement will close on Thursday, 14 March 2024

• Based at our picturesque and vibrant St Lucia Campus

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you will 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 

This is an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer to work with the ‘Energy Transition Modelling’ (ETM) project team of UQ - Centre of Natural Gas (CNG). This project is developing UQ-wide capabilities in quantitative modelling of Australia’s energy system transition, with a current focus on analysing the interface between the domestic gas supply system and the electricity system managed by the National Electricity Market (NEM). The project seeks to deliver novel analysis, engage strongly with energy system stakeholders, and build UQ capability in the modelling of energy system transition challenges.

This position will contribute to delivery of specific project outputs required for external industry partners, also contributing to other activities and outputs of the ETM project team. The Fellow’s contributions will be across the following three domains:

• Applied electricity system modelling and analysis

• Identifying and assessing key uncertainties in the associated input data

• Developing computing infrastructure for the ETM project team’s modelling and analysis

The position reports to the Senior Research Fellow (Energy) at the UQ - Centre of Natural Gas. At this level it is expected that the incumbent will contribute to service and engagement roles and activities.

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Design and implement modelling and analysis on collaborative energy transition research questions, in partnership with other project team members and industry stakeholders, drawing on best-practice research methodologies.

• Contribute to the design of computing infrastructure for the broader project team, and lead development of that infrastructure.

• Liaise with other researchers and external stakeholders, as required to scope, implement and communicate the research of the project team.

• Contribute to project team written communication materials, including non-academic publications and for academic journals, producing quality research output that is consistent with discipline norms.

• Contribute to activities that transfer knowledge, technology and practices to research end users (industry; government; public), including commercialisation of UQ intellectual property.

• Work with colleagues in the development of joint research projects and applications for research funding support from industry and competitive schemes.

• Develop a coherent research program and an emerging research profile.

• Assist the project team leader to support other project and Centre-related research activities as required.

Supervision and Researcher Development

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

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

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

• Work 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.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance .

This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position for up to 6 months with potential extension subject to project funding 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.

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, flexible working arrangements including flexible start/finish times, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You  

• Completion or near completion of a PhD using quantitative analysis in an energy or data science field, or other related discipline area.

• Strong understanding of the Australian energy system, and the objectives and challenges for its transition over short and longer timeframes.

• Experience in modelling long-term energy transition scenarios using optimisation and/or market models.

• Knowledge of, and experience in applying, mathematical techniques for analysis and modelling of data under large uncertainty.

• Demonstrated ability to design and implement clear, transparent and functional code that can be used and further developed by others, including the design and application of workflows in a high-performance computing environment.

• Demonstrated success at collaboratively scoping and delivering on practicable research questions that address industry needs.

• Well-developed written communication skills with experience in preparing scientific publications, reports, and submissions.

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

• Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding.

• Some experience in meaningful internal service roles, and contributions towards teaching and external activities.

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 Dr Joe Lane . 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 Thursday, 14 March 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-35460).