Postdoctoral Research Associate/Fellow

Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow – Department of Geography

This full-time post is available on a fixed term basis from 1 April 2024 to 31 September 2026, with the last year subject to funding being confirmed. We are open to applications from candidates interested in working part-time hours or job-sharing arrangements. 

The post

The Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow to participate in research as part of three projects, in the context of socio-economic and environmental modelling. We are seeking an outstanding, highly motivated and committed individual to provide quantitative research capacity in three projects: DECIPHER, EEIST and USS-fund.

The EEIST 2 project is led by the University of Exeter, whereas DECIPHER is a multi-institutional project led by E3Modelling in Greece. The projects seek to improve the energy-economy model E3ME-FTT used to inform climate change mitigation scenarios and climate policy-making. Some of the development with be done in co-production with Indian partners. Improvements will and creating better interactions between sectors to study potential cascading tipping points.

The three projects seek to develop and improve the FTT family of energy systems models, based on evolutionary economics. These models are run as part of the bigger global macro-econometric E3ME-FTT, in collaboration with the consultancy Cambridge Econometrics. Improvement will focus on innovation in the context of scenarios of emissions reductions and climate change.

In the USS-funded project, the role holder will simulate the effects of a set of global transition narratives. These narratives include options for climate policy, technology, geopolitics, finance and economics. The project will quantify macro-economic factors e.g. GDP, interest rates; as well as quantification of sector-level impacts e.g. relative profitability.

More information on the research can be found at https://eeist.co.uk/.

About you

The successful applicant will be able to operate and improve complex and data-intensive models of the earth or energy system, ideally with knowledge of technological change, innovation, energy use and climate change. The candidate will possess strong mathematical, data analysis and programming abilities, ideally in Python and/or FORTRAN. The candidate will have experience of non-linear dynamical systems.

The successful applicant will also be able to define research objectives, projects, and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD (or nearing completion for PDRA) or equivalent qualification/experience in a related strongly quantitative field of study such as physics, economics, ecology, applied mathematics, engineering or other related fields of study. The successful applicant will possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required.

Please ensure you read our Job description and person specification for full details of this role.  

To find out more about what we offer our staff, please visit: Benefits | Prospective Staff | University of Exeter

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces.

For further information please Dr Femke Nijsse (F.J.M.M.Nijsse@exeter.ac.uk), Prof Tim Lenton (T.M.Lenton@exeter.ac.uk) and Jack Oliver (J.Oliver@exeter.ac.uk)

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