Research Fellow - School of Chemical Engineering - 95390 - Grade 8

RESEARCH FELLOW – 95390

Position Details

School of Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £42,149 to £50,296 with potential progression once in post to £56,587
Grade 8
Full time 
Fixed-term until 30 March 2023
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK 
Closing Date:  11 November 2021 

Job Summary 

The University of Birmingham-led Centre for Sustainable Cooling has built a global 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 a senior researcher to accelerate the design and delivery of integrated, data and needs-driven multi-dimensional systems approaches to meet the broad portfolio of cold-chain and wider cooling needs in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable manner. In so doing they will also support the research team with;

•    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.
•    Strategies for 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. 
•    Consideration 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.

Main Duties/Responsibilities

To lead the development of sustainable (environmentally and economically) solutions for cold-chain and cooling needs, understanding the technology, energy, policy and financial and capacity interventions required as well as the future skills and training needs.  This will include:

•    Pursue personal research including developing research ideas associated with sustainable clean cooling and developing new research bids from research funders such as EPSRC (i.e. UK research councils), NGOs, development banks and governmental and multi-national organisations.
•    Plan, publish and/or execute high quality research
•    Project manage research activities associated with clean cooling, take a leadership role in developing this area and helping coordinate research
•    Present findings in high quality publications and conferences, workshops and meetings both in the UK and overseas
•    Develop novel clean cold methodologies and techniques which involve qualitative fieldwork including mapping, surveys focus groups; energy-technology-economic modelling; experiments, and case studies.
•    Supervise and examine PhD students, both within and out with the University
•    Contribute to the administration/management of research associated with cooling research topics
•    Work with the university and external stakeholders in knowledge exchange activities and dissemination to maximise the impact of the research in sustainable clean cooling
•    Drive the development of cooling research to open up new areas of understanding and future areas of research that could lead to future funding applications.
•    Contribute to some administrative activities within the University, typically relating to research
•    Apply knowledge in a way that develops new intellectual understanding 
•    Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour

Person Specification 

•    Hold a PhD in the area of socio-economic, techno-economic analysis and modelling or area which is relevant to analysis and modelling of sustainable clean cooling or equivalent qualifications/.experience
•    Extensive research experience and scholarship linked to understanding complex social, economic and technical problems particularly in the context of overseas development and projects.
•    Experience of analysis and modelling of multi-dimensional techno-economic/socio-economic systems
•    An understanding of a range of influences from business drivers to cultural context  
•    Demonstrable evidence of academic leadership
•    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
•    Demonstrated ability to work with complex multi-dimensional data to produce reports and papers which has been recognised as important contributions to the field.
•    Experience and achievement reflected in a growing reputation
•    Extensive experience and demonstrated success in leading successful projects that have had a demonstrable impact on their field.
•    Extensive experience of applying and/or developing and devising successful models, techniques and methods
•    Extensive experience and achievement in knowledge transfer, enterprise and similar activity
•    Experience of working overseas would be an advantage
•    Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area
•    Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied
•    Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action

Informal enquiries to Professor 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.