Postdoctoral Research Associate

Working at Durham University  

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a warm and friendly place to work, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career. The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.  

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it’s also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.

Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential. 

Our Purpose and Values

We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what their identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.

Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Durham? information page.   

The Department

Durham Earth Sciences is one of the very best UK Earth Science departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in research and teaching. It is regularly ranked in the top 5 of UK departments and is within the global top 40. 

The department has around 35 academic staff, 15 research staff, 40 PhD students, 20 MSc by research students and 250 undergraduate students. Its research covers a spectrum of Earth Science disciplines around three broad themes: Earth Surface Processes and Hazards; Climate, Environment, and Resources; Physics and Chemistry of Earth and Planetary Processes. The themes reflect our aim not only to undertake fundamental and intrinsically excellent research, but also research of societal importance. 

The Department of Earth Sciences holds a departmental Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of its efforts to promote gender equality and address challenges particular to the earth sciences. 

More information on the department, its research and its facilities can be found here .

The Role

We invite applications for a two-year postdoctoral researcher, to work with Prof Jeroen van Hunen on the topic of “Geodynamic modelling of the Virgin Islands as a proxy for early Earth geodynamics”. The successful candidate will become an employee of Durham University. They will join the UKRI NERC-funded project VIPER (Virgin Islands: Petrogenesis of early Earth-like Rocks). The post involves collaboration with partners at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. In particular, a close working relationship with an Edinburgh-based PDRA and PhD student will be important. 

The VIPER project: Plate tectonics on the modern Earth forms new oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges and destroys it in subduction zones, where cycles of magmatism, erosion, deposition, and mountain-building events generate new continental crust. The Earth’s continents began to grow and stabilise 4 billion years ago and, although we have a clear understanding of how plate tectonics forms continental crust on the present-day Earth, we still do not know which tectonic processes formed the oldest continental crust on the early Earth. Here we propose to undertake the first integrated petrological, geochemical, and geodynamic investigation of rocks in the Caribbean Virgin Islands which we consider to be a modern analogue of the early Earth. Our results will be applied to the primitive Earth in a bid to identify the tectonic setting(s) in which the first continental crust formed. The identification of these early Earth processes is critical to our understanding of how our planet began its evolutionary path towards forming the modern mantle, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The VIPER project (Virgin Islands: Petrogenesis of early Earth-like Rocks) aims to further understand these early Earth processes through geodynamic modelling and petrological analyses.

The postdoctoral project

The successful candidate will use geodynamic modelling to assess the tectonic feasibility of a range of proposed geodynamic scenarios to explain the tectonic and petrological observations (e.g., P-T ranges) of the Virgin Islands as a proxy for early Earth dynamics. This will involve both subduction zone and intraplate settings. In particular, the following parameters will be investigated: (1) mantle and crustal rheological properties, (2) potential source rock compositions of any melting processes taking place, and (3) ambient mantle temperature and lithospheric thickness. Potential implications for the Earth’s earliest crust formation will be explored in a set of numerical models with thermal and compositional settings that are appropriate for the early Earth. Calculations will be carried out with the flexible, and highly versatile geodynamical software tool ASPECT (https://aspect.geodynamics.org). 

The role will require extended research visits to collaborators at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh.

Key responsibilities:

• To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications.
• To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences.
• To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
• To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals.
• To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
• To work with colleagues in the research groups at the Universities of Durham, Oxford and Edinburgh, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.
• To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.
• To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
• To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects.
• To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate.
• To be involved in student supervision, as appropriate, and assist with the assessment of the knowledge of students.
• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
• To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses.   

This post is fixed term for 24 months due to the time limited nature of the research funding.  

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.

Working at Durham 

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits: 

• 30 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 42 days per year.
• The University closes between Christmas and New Year.
• We offer a generous pension scheme, As a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled  into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS).
• No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered.  We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.
• There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally.  There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University.  All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities.
• Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state of the art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.
• On site nursery is available and children’s clubs in the summer holidays.
• Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).
• The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community.
• Discounts are available via our benefits portal including; money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions.
• A salary sacrifice scheme is also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits.
• If you are moving to Durham, we can help with removal costs and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools.  If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key component of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  We also live by our Purpose and Values  and our Staff Code of Conduct.   At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to us that all colleagues undertake activities that are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI. 

We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups.

If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.

The University has been awarded the Disability Confident Employer status. If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role. 

Contact Information 

Department contact for academic-related enquiries 

If you have any questions about this position, or if you wish to discuss matters informally before you apply, please contact Prof Jeroen van Hunen ([email protected] ).

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application 

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email.  Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing to [email protected]  

Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or +44 191 334 6801 from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time.  We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).  

How to Apply  

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification below. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.  

While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.  

Submitting your application 

We prefer to receive applications online.   We will update you about your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to make sure you have not missed any of our updates.

What to Submit 

All applicants are asked to submit:

Next Steps 

Short-listed candidates will be invited to the University, either virtually or in-person. The assessment for the post will normally include an interview and presentation to the interview panel.  

In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date. 

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.durham.ac.uk/about-us/governance/information-governance/privacy-notices/privacy-notices/job-applicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.   

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.

Person Specification 

Essential Criteria:

Qualifications

Experience

2. Experience in conducting high quality academic research. 

3. Excellent level of spoken and written English.

4. Experience with using and developing geodynamic modelling software

5. Experience or affinity with the ASPECT geodynamical modelling tool.

6. Basic knowledge of thermodynamics.

7. Experience or affinity with petrological software tools, such as Thermocalc, Perple_X, or MAGEMin.

8. Experience with Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations

9. Demonstrable ability to write material of a quality commensurate with publication in highly-ranked journals.

10.Demonstrable ability to present research papers at international conferences and communicate complex information to specialists and within the wider academic community.

11. Demonstrable ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines.                                                              

12. Willingness and desire to engage with the VIPER research network, and the wider academic and non-academic community, to develop and promote the project.

Skills

13. Strong computer programming skills and demonstrable knowledge in C++ computer programming 

14. Demonstrate excellent problem-solving skills and a proactive attitude.

15. Demonstrable ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, including participating in research meetings.

           16. Ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines.

           17. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Desirable Criteria

Experience

18. Demonstrable experience contributing to research and development activities in a computationally-intensive environment.

19. Demonstrable ability to develop research proposals and designs in collaboration with other academics.

Skills

20. Demonstrable ability to plan and manage independent research.