Senior Research Technician

The post
The university wishes to recruit an Experimental Officer / Senior Research Technician to take a key role in a major industry-funded project that aims to use agricultural management, nature-based solutions and ecosystem stewardship to substantially increase carbon storage in managed soils as a climate-change mitigation strategy. We will also explore options for increasing agricultural productivity and sustainability to alleviate pressures for agricultural expansion into natural ecosystems. This international project will study contrasting soils from different regions, and use novel isotope-labelling approaches to trace new carbon inputs into different organic matter pools across a range of simulated managements and interventions.

The successful candidate will play a key role in running long-term experiments, including maintaining model crop or grassland plant communities within state-of-the-art ¹³C labelling growth cabinets. They will contribute to the measurements of plant performance, greenhouse gas fluxes and ecosystem carbon storage. The post holder will join an international and interdisciplinary team, including researchers specialising in plant ecology, plant-soil interactions, and microbial community diversity and function.

This full-time position is linked to external research funding and available until 30^th June 2027.

About you
The successful candidate will have a high-level of experience in running experiments or maintaining plant-growth facilities, with knowledge of working with soils and sediments also being desirable. They must also be able to demonstrate an ability to work collaboratively with teams of researchers, and must be motivated by the opportunity to contribute to research aimed at identifying options for using soils to remove carbon from the atmosphere. The post holder will demonstrate an ability to oversee and manage key aspects of the laboratory and field research, including ensuring safe working practices through training and risk assessments, managing inventories of materials and chemicals, and purchasing laboratory supplies.

The University of Exeter
We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking 2024). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our world-leading research impact has grown more than any other Russell Group university in recent years, and we are home to some of the world’s most influential researchers, seeking to answer some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today. More than 99% of our research is of international quality and 47% is world-leading (2021 Research Excellence Framework).

Benefits
We offer some fantastic benefits including:

• 41 days leave per year
• options for flexible working
• numerous discounts at leading retailers
• onsite gyms on all of our campuses and a cycle to work scheme
• sector leading policies around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), paternity leave (up to six weeks full pay) and a Fertility Treatment Policy
• stunning campus environments in Exeter and Cornwall, in the beautiful South West of England

For further information please contact Prof. Iain Hartley, e-mail i.hartley@exeter.ac.uk or telephone (01392) 724362.

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