Research Assistant

Location: Space Park - Leicester

Vacancy terms: Full time, fixed term contract from 01 March 2023 to 28 February 2025

Hours per week: 37.5

Advert closes midnight on: 09 Jan 2023

About the role

A project recently funded by InnovateUK, aims to transform access to renewable, reliable, affordable power, heat and by-products through the pyrolysis of crop waste residues. The project, led by PyroGenesys Ltd. will install a number of pyrolysis machines at locations in Nigeria. Key to the deployment of these machines will be the evaluation of sites to ensure the supply of crop waste, the demand for energy locally and an assessment of carbon emission savings. The University of Leicester has developed approaches to use satellite data to detect crop growth and harvest dates, monitor agricultural activity in relation to, for example, drought impacts and, developed a model that utilises existing building detection products to understand the potential demand for energy. In related projects, we have deployed R&D services on a cloud-based, geospatial data processing and visualization platform GeoData360 (built by CGI-IT-UK-Ltd).

With InnovateUk funding, we seek an exceptional research assistant who is interested in making an impact through R&D supporting renewable technologies that will reduce reliance on fossil fuels and provide sustainable energy to communities that will drive up investment and quality of life. You will scale-up the algorithms mentioned and build robust and testable solutions ready for deployment. As well as using Sentinel satellites, we will explore the utility of products from Planet and Maxar as part of agreements the University has in place. The successful candidate will work alongside Kevin Tansey and a project software engineer to ensure the smooth and stable deployment of these solutions as services on GeoData360. You will be working at Space Park Leicester, our new £100 million building.

About you

You will have at least a MSc degree in a relevant subject (or equivalent work experience) with experience of working with or in industry. You will be an effective communicator, a team player, and have remote sensing and/or satellite image processing experience. You should have an interest in agriculture, crop science and/or renewable energies. You need to have proven ability/competence in Linux (environment, scripting) & APIs, Coding in python/java/C++ (ideally two of), machine/deep learning code and workflows and github or other repository.

Additional information

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Kevin Tansey on kjt7@le.ac.uk

We anticipate that interviews will take place during week commencing 23 January 2023. 

The University of Leicester has been changing the world, and changing people’s lives, for 100 years. When you join us, you’ll become part of a community of Citizens of Change, which includes not only our staff and our current students but also thousands of Leicester graduates around the world.

As a diverse and forward-thinking employer, we embed the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion into everything we do. That includes not just our core missions of teaching and research, but also our support for staff, students and our local community.

We’re committed to the wellbeing of all our staff and to the sustainability of our environment, on our campus and beyond. We offer a competitive salary package, excellent pension scheme and a generous annual leave allowance, along with opportunities to develop your career in a supportive and collaborative environment.

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