Postdoctoral Research Fellow - School of Chemical Engineering

• ­School of Chemical Engineering  

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

• Research for industrial projects on CO2 conversion and H2 storage for iron and steelmaking industry

• Part-time (80%), fixed term appointment for 12 months

• Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment

• Work at our vibrant and conveniently located 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 

This is an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to focus their efforts on developing their expertise and emerging research profile in decarbonization and hydrogen storage materials. At this level it is expected that the incumbent will contribute to service and engagement roles and activities associated with different industrial funded research projects.

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Design, set up and develop CO2 conversion process for ironmaking blast furnace and/or shaft furnace hydrogen ironmaking.

• Conduct research on catalysts design, development of hydrogen storage materials, and characterization of catalysts and hydrogen storage materials.

• Optimise the catalysts and associated processes above in terms of energy cost and utilization efficiency.

• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to plan and carry out innovative R&D projects to develop the decarbonization technologies for blast furnace ironmaking and iron ore reduction with hydrogen.

• Quantitative and qualitative analysis of research results from experiments or models.

• Write and edit scientific reports and publish high quality reports to stakeholders and publish high quality papers in internationally influential journals.

• Build connections with industrial partners and sponsors and academic people with expertise in the same area.

• Conduct techno-economic studies as part of strategies to integrate the CO2 conversion process and hydrogen storage technology into a steel-making plant.

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.

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

This is a part-time (80%), fixed-term position for 12 months. At 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, flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options and flexible start/finish times, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You  

• Completion of a PhD degree in chemical engineering or other chemical and metallurgical engineering with research and publications in the area above or related to iron and steelmaking or other related industries.

• The solid knowledge and experience in chemical engineering, metallurgical engineering and research background in catalyst design and characterisation.

• Knowledge and depth understanding in the theories of catalysis.

• Knowledge and skills in experiments, equipment design, techno-economic analysis.

• Demonstrated experience in getting involved in research and development projects for industries in a university or corporate environment.

• Ability to actively participate in discussion, presentation and debate in English and to write detailed reports and journal papers efficiently and succinctly.

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team, while taking the lead role for specific projects.

• Keep a good record of scientific publications in high-impact journals.

• Be resourceful and creative in solving challenging problems in research.

• High level of interpersonal skills and good presentation skills.

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 an education qualification and/or 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 Geoff Wang and/or Dr Muxina Konarova . 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 15 February 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-35221). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for Thursday 22 February 2024.