Research Associate – School of Engineering – 107454 – Grade 6 Part-time

Job Title

Research Associate

Job Description

School of Engineering

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

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.

Part Time (7.5 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to December 2026

Closing date: 26th May 2026

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
• Carry out administrative tasks related directly to the delivery of the research
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture
• Apply statistical profiling and clustering methods to connect energy demand patterns with socio-economic disadvantage and vulnerability indicators.
• Analyse results for system cost, carbon emissions, affordability and distributional outcomes.
• Support assessment of community hydrogen assets, bill savings allocation rules and equity-sensitive financial outcomes.
• Assist with hydrogen life-cycle assessment and low-carbon certificate accounting templates.
• Prepare figures, tables, code documentation, meeting notes, draft report sections and material for workshops, briefings and conferences.
• Support stakeholder co-design, dissemination activities and site visits through participant material, logistics, data validation notes and follow-up records.
• Maintain organised research records, reproducible data-processing scripts and version-controlled documentation where appropriate.

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.
• Ability to review existing literature and projects, preferably with track records on review/survey.
• Training or equivalent professional or research experience in econometrics, financial modelling, applied statistics, quantitative management or a closely related quantitative field.
• Practical experience of extracting, cleaning and analysing financial, socio-economic or market datasets for investment, cost, risk, pricing, bill-saving or allocation analysis.
• Experience with digital technology concepts relevant to energy-system modelling, such as digital twins, artificial intelligence, machine learning or blockchain, and ability to translate these concepts into scenario, market or stakeholder analysis.

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

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.