Research Fellow in Thermal Energy Materials and Devices

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049, with potential progression once in post to £48,822.

Fixed Term contract up to December 2027

Role Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated researcher to join the University of Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage (BCES) and the School of Chemical Engineering. This position focuses on materials and devices for energy conversion and storage, as well as industrial decarbonisation. The post holder will be part of a large team and is expected to play a key role in developing novel materials and devices for thermal, thermo-mechanical and thermochemical energy conversion and storage, and industrial decarbonisation, which are application-oriented and manufacturable at scale.

The post holder will contribute to research activities across the following areas:

• Materials Development and Manufacturing: Formulation, characterisation, optimisation and fabrication of materials for thermal, thermo-mechanical and thermo-chemical energy conversion and storage, and industrial decarbonisation (including but not limited to phase change and thermochemical materials). Design, optimisation and manufacturing of the developed materials and their modules for integration into devices, based on optimal formulations. Establishment of cost-effective manufacturing process for the fabrication of the optimised materials and modules at scale, and validation of the process.
• Devices and Experiments: Design, modelling, optimisation, construction and experimental testing of devices containing the material modules for thermal, thermo-mechanical or thermochemical energy conversion and storage, and industrial decarbonisation at small lab and pilot scales. The experimental work involves close collaboration with other research team members. Validating the modelling results at the material module and the device levels under small laboratory, pilot and real-world scale operating conditions where the real-world scale device experiments involve collaboration with industrial sponsors.

Person specification

• Hold or be close to the completion of a PhD on a topic on materials and devices for thermal, thermo-mechanical and thermo-chemical energy conversion and storage, and industrial decarbonisation.
• Good underpinning degree in relevant science and engineering disciplines, for example: thermal engineering, chemical and process engineering, energy engineering, physics and chemistry.
• Proven track record in at least three of (i) formulation, optimisation, fabrication and characterisation of materials and materials modules for thermal, thermo-mechanical or thermo-chemical energy conversion and storage, and industrial decarbonisation; (ii) scale-up of material and material modules manufacturing; (iii ) design, modelling, optimisation and construction of devices containing the formulated material modules; (iv) design, construction and experimental testing of the devices under a laboratory and/or a pilot scale system. 
• Hands on experiences and demonstrable proficiency in materials-related research tools including material thermal and physical characterisation using DSC, STA, XRD, XRT, SEM, FTIR, Raman, and particle sizer and morphology etc.
• Proven hands-on experience in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling using relevant software tools such as ANSYS Fluent and COMSOL Multiphysics.  

Informal enquires can be made to {Tongtong Zhang, t.zhang.7@bham.ac.uk} 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

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We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

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