Research Fellow in Reaction Automation

Are you an experienced and ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Are you looking to apply your skills in reaction engineering to the development of new approaches for manufacturing pharmaceutical and nanoparticulate products? Do you want to further your career in one of the UK’s leading research intensive Universities?

We are seeking a Research Fellow in Reaction Automation to join a major 4-year EPSRC-funded programme - Cognitive Chemical Manufacture . The overarching project aims to develop an Industry 4.0 approach revolutionizing the transfer from laboratory to production using advanced data-rich and cognitive computing technologies. Cloud-based machine learning services will generate experiment setpoints delivered through the cloud to automated laboratory platforms. A key novelty is that the analysis services can receive and analyse results, and post further experiments to the experimental platforms, thus generating a data generation - data analysis closed-loop. This enables the application of machine learning to chemical development: the system will continuously learn, increasing in confidence and knowledge over time, from previous iterations.

The position will work alongside a Research Fellow with Process Chemistry expertise at the Institute of Process Research and Development at the University of Leeds. The role holder will interact with partners at Swagelok, AstraZeneca and Promethean Particles, to develop automated reactor platforms, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Nottingham and with experts at IBM & University College London, in the integration of machine learning algorithms for the efficient generation of kinetic and process knowledge.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Dr Richard Bourne , Associate Professor in Reaction Engineering

Email: [email protected]

Please note: If you are not a British or Irish citizen, from 1 January 2021 you will require permission to work in the UK. This will normally be in the form of a visa but, if you are an EEA/Swiss citizen and resident in the UK before 31 December 2020, this may be your passport or status under the EU Settlement Scheme.