Research Associate in Electronic Engineering for Glaciology

Do you work with electronics and have a passion for the environment? Would you like to work on an exciting project to develop new open-source instrumentation for studying glaciers? Come and join our growing research group of friendly people who study the cold regions of the world!

We’re looking for a researcher (with a PhD or equivalent industrial experience, such as experience in an R&D or product development role) who can work on the design, development, deployment and testing of a suite of new instruments that will collect data about the state of glaciers and ice sheets in near-real time. These instruments will measure conditions on the glacier surface, and also within and below it, and will report wirelessly in real time, with data being relayed back to Cardiff by satellite using internet-of-things (IoT) technologies. This will help us understand how the ice in Greenland and Antarctica is responding to climate change.

This project is funded from a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship awarded to project lead Mike Prior-Jones. For more information, please watch the video on his profile page 

You will work on the design of electronic circuits, sensors, printed circuit boards (PCBs), caseworks, and embedded software (firmware). Hands-on design experience of electronics and/or mechanical systems would be extremely valuable. All the designs will be open-source, so previous experience of working on open-source hardware or software projects is also valuable. Prior experience of glaciology is not required, but if you have not worked in glaciology, polar or high mountain research before, we would like you to demonstrate enthusiasm for the subject and an understanding of the importance of climate change research in your application.

You should be committed to a positive and supportive team environment, capable of organising your own work, and co-ordinating with others over shared work and resources. You’ll be part of the Cryospheric & Hydrological Instrumentation Lab (CHIL) along with Mike Prior-Jones, one other Research Associate and one PhD student. You’ll also be part of the wider Cold Climate group, which includes four members of faculty, one more Research Associate and two further PhD students, providing many colleagues’ experience to draw on. The group is a part of the School of Earth and Environment Sciences, and we also have close connections and collaborations with the School of Engineering.

Much of our work is in collaboration with international partners, so please indicate in your application if you have previous experience of similar collaborations. There are opportunities to travel for meetings, conferences, and fieldwork and those who have particular needs around travel and fieldwork (such as adjustments for disabilities or family commitments) will be accommodated: we will work with you to ensure that your travel and fieldwork meets your needs and that you find it enjoyable and fulfilling. Fieldwork locations potentially include the Swiss Alps, Canadian Rockies and Yukon, and Greenland.

Team development is very important to us, and it is important that you enjoy learning new skills and techniques, both from your colleagues and through formal training. To help you further your own research career, the role comes with a £5,000 personal development budget that you can use to pay for training, conferences and research activities that are not part of the core project.

There will be a pre-application webinar on Wednesday 22nd February 2023 at 1330UTC to help answer any questions that you may have, and this will be recorded and made available afterwards for those unable to attend. To attend, please register using this link. For further informal queries please contact either Mike Prior-Jones (Prior-JonesM@cardiff.ac.uk) or Liz Bagshaw (BagshawE@cardiff.ac.uk)

The role starts as soon as possible and is funded for three years. We can discuss delaying the start date for up to a few months if necessary.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week) and fixed term for 3 years.

The appointment will be made, dependent on relevant qualification and experience, within the following grade:

Salary: £35,333 - £42,155 per annum (Grade 6)

Closing date: Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements. 

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 37 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) pro-rata for part-time hours, pension scheme, blended working (meaning you may be able to work from home for some of your time, depending on business needs), a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter.

Cardiff University is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions we will evaluate applicants on the quality of their research, not publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which the research is published. More information is available at:  Responsible research assessment - Research - Cardiff University