Research Fellow (105584-0622)

Fixed-term contract for up to 24 months, 1.0 FTE.

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral research fellow position under the supervision of Professor Pat Unwin and Dr Paul Wilson in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick. The successful candidate will be offered an appointment for up to 24 months. The successful applicant will join a large team as part a major new collaborative EPSRC Prosperity Partnership project between Lubrizol and the Universities of Nottingham and Warwick.

This project will focus on the development and application of cutting edge experimental and analytical methods – spanning a range of lengthscales and timescales - to provide underpinning knowledge for electrocatalysis and electrosynthesis. A number of systems are of interest, including the electrochemical/electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), ultimately targeting NH3. The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to work in a team with PhD students and other researchers to facilitate the rational development of new electrosynthesis routes. There will also be opportunities to develop new lines of research in electrocatalysis within the wide scope of the project management team. The successful applicant will also have the opportunity for secondments at our industrial and academic partners.

We are looking to recruit a motivated person with imaginative ideas and a passion for science. Ideally you would have experience in developing electrochemical instrumentation (e.g. LABVIEW or similar) and/or in electrocatalysis. Our work encompasses multiscale electrochemical systems, operating from the nanoscale to macroscale. We use electrochemical multimicroscopy – developed at Warwick - using scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) and complementary co-located microscopy techniques to discover optimal electrocatalysts and processes at the nanoscale. These catalysts are then explored in microfluidic and macroscale electrochemistry systems. It would be desirable if you have experience in leading edge electrochemical techniques, such electrochemical imaging, electrochemical microfluidics (or hydrodynamic electrodes generally), nano- and microelectrochemistry or the aptitude to learn these methods. Ideally you should also have some experience of materials and surface characterisation, including microscopy methods (e.g. SEM, TEM, EBSD, AFM etc.) and spectroscopy, or the ability to become skilled in these methods (training is available in Warwick’s state of the art Research Technology Platforms). Experience in reaction modelling (e.g. COMSOL) and the analysis of large datasets (MATLAB, Python programming, etc.) would also desirable, or you should have an interest to learn these methods.

If you have not yet been awarded your PhD but are near submission or have recently submitted your PhD, any offers of employment will be made as Research Assistant on level 5 of the University grade structure (£30,497). Upon successful award of your PhD and evidence of this fact, you will be promoted to Research Fellow on the first point of the level 6 of the University grade structure (£31,406).

Interview Date: w/c 23 May 2022, TBC.

Full details of the duties and selection criteria for this role can be found in the vacancy advert on the University of Warwick's jobs pages. You will be routed to this when you click on the Apply button.