Post-Doc Research Associate in Outdoor Thermal Comfort

Do you have a passion for the built environment and have solid post graduate research experience in this area? Do you have specialist knowledge in thermal comfort and would be interested in a fixed term role to support a large project looking at developing outdoor thermal comfort models for children? If so, we would welcome your application to this full-time, fixed term role. 

As a Post-doc Research Associate, in this role you will be working in the area of sustainable built environment and urban climate for the new three-year EPSRC-funded project sChOOL YARD: Outdoor thermal comfort models for children”, along with the University of Kent, Brunel, Loughborough University and UCL.

In this role, you will work alongside Professor Marialena Nikolopoulou who is leading the large collaborative project, developing models and guidelines that ensure outdoor spaces in schools are providing comfort conditions which reflect children’s thermal state, along with preferences and expectations and are resilient to climate change. You will develop outdoor thermal comfort models for children and develop thresholds for thermal comfort based on physical and physiological processes, while also accounting for different forms of adaptation and habituation specifically for children.

You will be required to travel to different schools across the UK, conducting outdoor seasonal thermal comfort surveys.

 As a Post Doc Research Associate you can expect to be involved in:

• Developing the experimental equipment and field survey protocols required for the monitoring of outdoor thermal comfort conditions and surveys
• Conducting the extensive outdoor comfort surveys in the different schools in the UK across different seasons
• Analysing the extensive datasets collected from the monitoring campaigns for the development of comfort models
• Working with advanced modelling tools for the development of tools and guidelines for the schools’ open spaces

 What will you bring to the role?

• PhD and Masters in a relevant specialism area or equivalent
• Postgraduate research experience in the built environment
• Specialist knowledge in thermal comfort

What we can offer in return:

As a member of our team, you can expect a friendly, open and collaborative working environment and support in your development and wellbeing. You'll enjoy a range of great staff benefits including:

• Hybrid working options allowing a flexible blend of office and home working (to be agreed in line with business needs)
• 43 days' leave per year (personal leave, bank holidays and additional days allocated for the Christmas period, pro rata for part-time staff)
• Excellent pension scheme with generous employer contributions
• Corporate employee-funded healthcare plan, in partnership with Benenden Health

For more information about what you can look forward to if you join us, visit our dedicated webpage: Working at Kent

We are ambitious for our people, our communities and the region we serve – join us in making the world a better place. Visit our website for more on who we are: http://www.kent.ac.uk/about/

For full job description and to apply, please click on the 'Apply' button above. For further information regarding the application process, please contact peopleserviceshr@kent.ac.uk quoting reference number SAA-005-25-R.

Further details:

*Occasionally we may need to close a vacancy before the published deadline due to a high number of applications being received, therefore we strongly advise you to submit your application as soon as possible. (All vacancies will be open for at least one week.)

Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Monday 25 August 2025

Advert information