Research Fellow

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,942 to £40,322 with potential progression once in post to £42,792 – Please note - As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is £33,797

Fixed-term for up to 24 months, with potential for a further extension

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

Closing Date: 12 September 2021

The Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage (BCES) is recruiting three highly motivated researchers to join a successful research team at the University of Birmingham. BCES is a cross-campus centre with its hub in the School of Chemical Engineering. It is part of the Birmingham Energy Institute with activities covering both fundamental and applied research in novel materials, devices and systems of thermal and chemical energy conversion and storage, multiscale modelling, process scale-up and materials manufacturing (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/energystorage ).  

This post is part of the team working on  two EPSRC recently awarded projects (EP/V041665/1 and  EP/V042033/1) on advanced heating/cooling decarbonisation technologies, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh, and UCL. The post holder will also have opportunities to visit oversea collaborators (secondment) and the travel expense will be fully covered by a H2020 RISE project CO-COOL: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101007976

The Research Fellow is expected to contribute to the development of thermochemical energy storage and chemisorption heat pump technology, with focus on the system level demonstration and evaluation. S/he will to assess the technical performance of storage-integrated chemisorption heat pump systems through both simulation and experiments. Numerical models will be developed firstly to guide the design and construction of the experimental system. The validated model will be further used to predict the dynamic operation and performance of commercial-scale systems. S/he will also contribute to publications, new grant proposal writing, and PhD student supervision.

Main Duties/Responsibilities include;

• To conduct own and original research
• To develop numerical model to simulate the dynamic performance of the storage-integrated chemisorption heat pump systems
• To design and construct a full chemisorption heat pump testing platform  
• To work closely with other project team members to ensure the developed materials and devices are able to integrated into the testing platform for system performance evaluation
• To assist the techno-economic assessment of the developed technologies

Person Specification

• A first degree in a relevant science/engineering discipline, and a PhD (or near to completion) or equivalent experience and qualifications in an area related to the main research responsibilities outlined above
• A solid background in fundamentals related thermochemical energy storage and heat pumps
• A high level of knowledge in process and system simulation and optimisation
• Demonstrable hands on experiences in lab-scale energy system development and construction
• Demonstrable prior experience and track record in areas closely related to the main research responsibilities

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr. Yongliang Li, email: [email protected]

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the Apply Online button below or visit our careers website; https://bham.taleo.net/careersection/external/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en&portal=101430233 , please quote Job Ref 97842 in all enquiries.

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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.