Research Fellow - Clean Cold Chain - School of Chemical Engineering - 98376 - Grade 7 - (210001VB)
Description
RESEARCH FELLOW – CLEAN COLD CHAIN – 98376 – 2 POSTS AVAILABLE
Position Details
School of Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £31,406 to £40,927 with potential progression once in post to £43,434
Grade 7
Full time
Fixed-term for up to 36 months
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
Closing Date: 11 November 2021
Background
Pathways to net-zero cold-chain - Opportunity to join major new global research team at Centre for Sustainable Cooling.
Temperature controlled supply chains are central to many aspects of a modern society and underpin socio-economic well-being as well as a population’s health – access to pharma and vaccines; access to nutritional food and prevention of food loss within the supply chains; protection and increase of farmer/rural incomes. Cold-chains are though energy intensive and currently reliant on both diesel, for example in a wide range of transport, weak grid and off-grid applications, and in many cases coal and/or natural gas based power grids.
Led by University of Birmingham, a collaboration of UK Universities with world-class expertise in clean cooling and cold-chain have secured £multi-million funding to work across a series of significant UK, European and international research projects to transform the cold-chain sector in developing and developed markets into a more efficient and sustainable system from ‘manufacturer to arm’ and ‘farm to fork’.
This includes the design and establishment of the new African Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain in Rwanda with the Governments of Rwanda and the United Kingdom (UK), the United Nations Environment Programme’s United for Efficiency initiative. Further Centres are to be announced shortly.
We are looking to recruit further Research Fellow(s) to work in the global Centre for Sustainable Cooling at University of Birmingham, contributing to work packages of the African Centre for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) and UK and European Sustainable Food Cold-chain research programmes.
Summary of Role
The University of Birmingham-led Centre for Sustainable Cooling has built the largest integrated research programme on "clean cooling and cold-chain" and its role in contributing towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement related Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol simultaneously. Our team is leading or collaborating in more than £20M of programmes across UK, Europe and the Developing World with more in the pipeline. This includes the first-of the-kind Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain with further Centres in development in other key geographies.
Specifically, we are looking to expand the existing team with further expertise to accelerate:
• Focus on technology analysis and design of sustainable cooling and cold-chains. This includes horizon scanning of technology options to meet cooling and cold-chain needs and demands, emissions modelling (direct and indirect) and defining market-suitable pathways - and the technologies, tools and methods - to net-zero solutions.
• Focus on financing cooling and cold-chain in the developing world. This includes exploring and designing innovative business and financing models, including, among others servitisation, industry-public sector partners and climate finance.
• Focus on designing integrated, data and needs-driven multi-dimensional systems approaches to meet the broad portfolio of a rural community’s cold-chain and wider cooling needs in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable manner.
• Focus on the social, skills/capacity and policy aspects of delivering sustainable cooling and cold-chain solution. This includes horizon scanning to understand gaps, market failures, unintended consequences, and developing frameworks and drivers to build capacity and market environment to deploy and scale clean cooling and cold-chain solutions in a timely manner in line with projected need and demand.
Please specify for which area(s) of focus you are interested in applying.
Main Duties/Responsibilities
• Collect research data, both quantitative and qualitative data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as literature reviews, research interviews and workshops
• Robust analysis of data, following ethical guidelines for data collection and analysis
• Contribute to technology selection based on, inter alia energy resources, social and economic criteria
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Write up research output into high quality reports and academic papers for publication
• Present findings in high quality conferences, workshops and meetings both in the UK and overseas
• Contribute to the administration/management of activities associated with the project
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research including in collaboration partners in-country
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
Person Specification
• Academic qualifications at the doctoral level in a relevant academic discipline and deep understanding of sustainable cooling and cold-chains and technologies.
• Interdisciplinary research experience linked to understanding complex social, economic and technical challenges
• An understanding of a range of influences from business drivers to cultural context and appreciation of whole systems models, techniques or methods
• High level analytical capability, experienced in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis
• Experienced in public engagement and workshop organisation with high level policymakers and stakeholders
• Track record of academic publications, proven delivery of reports and papers that are recognised within the field
• Proven ability to work both under guidance as part of a team, but also independently
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly
Informal enquiries can be made to Toby Peters; [email protected]
Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.
Primary Location
: GB-GB-Birmingham
Job
: Academic Non-clinical
Organization
: Chemical Engineering
Schedule
: Temporary
Full-time
Job Posting
: 10.10.2021, 7:00:00 PM
Grade (for job description): Grade 7
Salary (Pay Basis)
: 31,406.00
Maximum Salary
: 43,434.00
Advert Close Date
: 11.11.2021, 6:59:00 PM
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