Experimental Officer

Fixed term contract, 18 months

Full time, 35 hours

The opportunity:

The School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh is seeking to appoint an Experimental Officer. The position will be based at the King’s Buildings campus and will commence as soon as possible.

The successful appointees will become part of a multidisciplinary, multipartner fusion research programme, which aims to develop and rapidly demonstrate technology crucial to future fusion reactors in collaboration with industrial partners. Deuterium-tritium fusion reactors offer the prospect of providing a clean civil energy supply to address the net zero energy challenge, but they will need a continuous supply of tritium in order to produce this energy continuously. Tritium is not naturally abundant but can in principle be continuously generated in the reactor by the capturing of the neutrons generated through fusion in a “breeder blanket”. The challenge for each postholder is to utilise our extensive and leading open access pyrochemical research (PRL) and molten salts in nuclear technology (MSNTL) laboratory facilities and work with the associated and established team in a defined programme aimed at establishing underpinning physicochemical properties and developing and demonstrating processes (at laboratory scale using non-radioactive surrogates) capable of the effective and efficient breeding and extraction of tritium. The appointee will be part of an interdisciplinary team led by Prof. Andrew Mount, Director of PRL/MSNTL.
This is a fixed-term position for 18 months.

Your Skills and attributes for Success:

• An undergraduate degree and at least a submitted PhD thesis, or equivalent, in Chemistry, Materials Science, Engineering or a relevant discipline.
• A track record of experimental research experience including data collection and analysis.
• Familiarity with relevant Health & Safety regulations and procedures.
• Ability to work effectively/efficiently e.g in meeting agreed milestones.
• Ability to develop and sustain effective working relationships.
• Good time-keeping and time-management, through effective prioritisation of tasks.
• Good communication skills; oral, writing and presentation of data.
• Ability to contribute ideas and initiate new ways of working.
• Relevant technical problem solving skills.
• Capability to work independently, exercising a high degree of initiative and demonstrating a pro-active and flexible approach to work.
• Knowledge of electrochemical techniques and processes Desirable
• Demonstrated capability to work collaboratively in a team e.g. with researchers from different disciplines or technical backgrounds.
• Experience in careful experimental work, most relevantly at high temperatures and/or in inert environments e.g. Ar glove boxes.
• Experience of electrochemical techniques and processes including amperometry/ potentiometry, or of corrosion/ dissolution analysis

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