Postdoctoral Research Associate in Experimental Mechanics of Liquid-solid Impact

About the Role

Applications are invited for a full-time Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to work on an ERC Starting Grant/UKRI Frontier Research Grant in the group of Dr. Wei Tan. The ERC Starting Grant project, "LSIMPACT: Life-like Resilient Materials for Mitigating Liquid-Solid Impact Damage," aims to understand the effects of high-speed liquid collisions with solid surfaces, such as erosion on wind turbine blades and aircraft components, and cavitation damage on ship propellers. LSIMPACT aims to reveal the mechanisms underlying liquid-solid impact damage using innovative experimental and computational approaches, thereby guiding the development of advanced impact-resistant materials.

The post will collaborate with two postdocs specialising in computational mechanics and materials science and three PhD students. This post will also collaborate with Prof. John Dear (FREng) at Imperial College London and Dr Christopher Braithwaite at University of Cambridge who have extensive experience of liquid-solid impact tests.

About You

Applicants should have a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering or a relevant subject (e.g. Engineering Mechanics, Applied Mathematics, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, etc.), or be near completion.

They should possess hands-on experience in experimental mechanics and material characterisation. Additionally, expertise in operating dynamic impact test facilities, including familiarity with gas gun procedures, Hopkinson bar tests, or liquid droplet impact experiments, is essential. A strong foundation in digital image correlation techniques and knowledge of the mechanics of materials is desirable. The main purpose of this role is to develop a wide range of liquid-solid impact test facilities and reveal liquid-solid impact damage mechanisms.

About Queen Mary

At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable.

Throughout our history, we’ve fostered social justice and improved lives through academic excellence. And we continue to live and breathe this spirit today, not because it’s simply ‘the right thing to do’ but for what it helps us achieve and the intellectual brilliance it delivers.

Our reformer heritage informs our conviction that great ideas can and should come from anywhere. It’s an approach that has brought results across the globe, from the communities of east London to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

We continue to embrace diversity of thought and opinion in everything we do, in the belief that when views collide, disciplines interact, and perspectives intersect, truly original thought takes form.

Benefits

We offer competitive salaries, access to a generous pension scheme, 30 days’ leave per annum (pro-rata for part-time/fixed-term), a season ticket loan scheme and access to a comprehensive range of personal and professional development opportunities. In addition, we offer a range of work life balance and family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, and campus facilities including an on-site nursery at the Mile End campus.

Queen Mary’s commitment to our diverse and inclusive community is embedded in our appointments processes. Reasonable adjustments will be made at each stage of the recruitment process for any candidate with a disability.