Research Associate in Coastal Dynamic Management

Job Title: Research Associate in Coastal Dynamic Management 
Department/School: Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment
Campus: Belfast
Salary: £33,680 – £36,341 per annum
Duration: Fixed-Term for 12 months / Full-time
Closing Date: 23rd November 2026 at 23:30
Reference Number: 044206

- ABOUT US -

We are a university with a national and international reputation for excellence, innovation and regional engagement, making a major contribution to the economic, social and cultural development of Northern Ireland.

Our core business activities are teaching and learning, widening access to education, research and innovation and technology and knowledge transfer.

- THE ROLE -
 
The postholder will support the project “Coastal-Twin AI for Dynamic Shoreline Management” (C-TIDE), funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UKRI, to develop an AI-enabled digital twin for coastal shoreline management in Northern Ireland.

The Research Associate will be working on the technical pipeline: acquiring and harmonising the project’s coastal datasets, contributing to the development and validation of the proposed AI models for shoreline detection and morphodynamics, integrating these into the decision-support digital twin, and supporting the human-in-the-loop and reporting workstreams.

C-TIDE is addressing the lack of a strategic Shoreline Management Plan for Northern Ireland’s coastline, which faces increasing storm frequency, wave action and sea-level rise. Led by Ulster University, the project is building a unified AI-ready coastal data platform, label-efficient machine learning models for shoreline and morphodynamic prediction, and a geospatial digital twin with human-in-the-loop decision support – transforming how the region observes, forecasts and manages its dynamic coastline. C-TIDE's vision is to create the first dynamic, AI-enabled coastal Digital Twins for NI, delivering real-time shoreline intelligence and transparent, auditable decision-support for adaptive coastal management. C-TIDE will further establish a multidisciplinary community of oceanographers, climate scientists, engineers, AI specialists, policymakers, and local authorities, ensuring that the platform is user-informed, scientifically robust, and scalable across the UK and internationally.

We may create a 12-month waiting list for the same or similar roles within the Department / Faculty. The University reserves the right to extend the waiting list across the University if required for certain posts.

- ABOUT YOU -

The postholder will be required to have:

- Degree in Geomatics, Environmental Science, Civil/Coastal Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
- PhD (awarded or near completion with thesis submitted) in a relevant area.
- Experience in handling, processing, integrating and analysing large-scale geospatial and/or time-series environmental datasets, including data quality assurance, validation and uncertainty management.

Please find our employee benefits on our website.

Athena Swan Statement

The Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment holds a Silver Athena SWAN Award in recognition of our commitment to advancing Gender equality in higher education. You can read more about what this means on our University website. The University has a range of initiatives to support a family-friendly working environment, including flexible working.

The University is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants from all sections of the community, particularly from those with disabilities. Appointment will be made on merit.

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