Research Assistant x2

About us

The positions will be based in the Engineering Department at King’s College London. The recently re-founded Department is rapidly expanding into a world-class research and teaching department. It consists of new state-of-the-art lab facilities located in the heart of London. 

We are a dynamic Department with a diverse team of academics, PDRAs, and PhDs across engineering disciplines who work in a collaborative environment.

About the role

We are looking to appoint two Research Assistants to work for 12 months (full-time 1.0 FTE)/6 months (full-time 1.0 FTE or part-time minimum 0.5 FTE) to work at the interface of materials engineering/characterisation and painting conservation.

These are full-time posts, and you will be offered a fixed term contract.

At King’s, you will be part of a growing activity in advanced materials in the Department of Engineering under the supervision of Professor Barbara Shollock FREng. The research activities span a range of sectors and studies the behaviour of materials in a range of environments, their degradation mechanisms and how to mitigate them.

The research in these projects at King’s is funded by the King’s Climate and Sustainability Fund and is in collaboration with Dr Aviva Burnstock at the Courtauld Institute https://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/partnerships/kings-the-courtauld.

The research projects will focus on aspects of environmental influence on paintings and painting materials, in an interdisciplinary collaboration between King’s College London’s Engineering and The Courtauld's Conservation Departments. The aspects include:

• non-invasive methods for measuring deformation and associated changes in strain in paintings and/or experimental samples exposed to environmental fluctuations using a portable DIC camera.
• experimental characterisation of the effects of mould/ fungi on paint stratigraphy and testing the effectiveness of preventions or treatments. This can include investigating the condition and pathways for infestation, and testing methods for new inhibition and or treatment strategies.

The methods used in the project for evaluation may include imaging and elemental analysis using microscopy, SEM-EDX and focused ion beam study of unmounted samples.

You will have the opportunity to participate in Researcher Development activities at King’s as appropriate (please see Centre for Research Staff Development | King's College London)

You will also support Masters/PhD students and contribute to a positive group environment.

There are two roles available, one for 12 months (full-time 1.0 FTE) and one for 6 months (full-time 1.0 FTE or part-time minimum 0.5 FTE for 12 months)

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