Research Associate

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £33,002 to £35,608 with potential progression once in post to £39,906. As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 6, salary £39,906.

Hours: Part Time 7.5 hours per week

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract up to December 2026

Background

To assist in research (by carrying out data collection or analyses) to create knowledge through providing research support for projects and research groups.

The post will assist delivery of EPSRC (through HI-ACT) project WHISPER (Whole-System Hydrogen Integration in Supporting Place-Based Equitable Net-Zero Transition). The project examines East Birmingham and the Orkney Islands as contrasting urban and remote island contexts. It links energy demand, network, building stock, renewable generation and socio-economic data with whole-system modelling, hydrogen life-cycle assessment, community investment analysis and stakeholder workshops. The Research Associate will provide focused research support across data, modelling, scenario preparation and engagement outputs.

Role Summary

• Work within specified research grants and/or projects
• Operate within area of specialism
• Contribute to publications
• Support the WHISPER research grant through data assembly, cleaning and preprocessing.
• Apply quantitative analysis to energy, network, building, renewable, socio-economic and fuel cost datasets.
• Prepare clustering outputs and vulnerability profiles for equity-sensitive modelling.
• Prepare scenario inputs for electricity, heat and hydrogen modelling under Clean Power 2035 and Net Zero 2050 assumptions.
• Assist with analysis of community hydrogen investment, financial allocation, hydrogen life-cycle assessment and low-carbon certificate accounting.
• Contribute to project deliverables, policy briefing material, academic outputs, conference material and stakeholder workshop preparation.

Main Duties

• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Analyse research data as directed
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Develop or adapt techniques, models and methods
• Provide guidance as required to support staff and any students who may be assisting with research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines

Person Specification

• Degree or equivalent in relevant subject area 
• Practical experience of applying the relevant skills and techniques
• Ability to analyse information and communicate effectively
• Ability to access and organise resources successfully
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly
• Practical experience of quantitative research methods, data cleaning and statistical analysis.
• Knowledge or research experience at the interface between energy systems and markets, including smart grids, energy-market modelling, multi-stakeholder decision-making, carbon or emissions trading, or pricing and auction mechanisms.

Informal enquiries to Prof Xiao-Ping Zhang, email: x.p.zhang@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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