Research Fellow P-FASE – Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences – 106939 – Grade 7 Full-time

Research Associate Position

The recruited research associate will be working on the NERC Environmental Challenges grant “P-FASE: Advancing And Integrating Knowledge And Data On PFAS Sources, Fate And Risks For UK Environments.” In the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences research will be complete in the Water Sciences division, working on the fate and transport of Per-(poly)-fluorinated substances (PFAS).

PFAS are a diverse set of chemicals with different structures and functional groups. There are currently major gaps in our knowledge of how different PFAS occur and behave in the environment.

For example, we do not know all the sources of these chemicals; how their different properties affect how long they persist and transform; there in the environment the various PFAS forms go; and how they accumulate in and affect organisms. Fate and exposure experiments and modelling are essential approaches for predicting and assessing the movement and bioavailability of chemicals in the environment.

The post holder will be expected to conduct laboratory and field analytical research to study the environmental fate and transport of different PFAS at surface water – sediment interfaces. For this, experiences in working with artificial flow simulators (flumes) such as the Birmingham EcoLab and modelling will be highly desired.

This position is being advertised at 2 different grades, but only 1 candidate will be recruited.

Role Summary

• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar

Main Duties

• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Mesocosm experiment setup and operation
• Collection of simulate fate and transport experiments, sediment cores and water
• Analysis methods for pollutant identification
• Active field sampling (soil and groundwater)
• Design and conduct flume experiments and manipulations

Person Specification

• First degree in area of specialism and normally, a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• 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
• Knowledge of pollutant transport experiments
• Fate and transport modelling and measurements
• Fate processing experiments (flumes, columns)
• Toxicology
• Experience of mesocosm experiments
• Experience of fate and transport experiments
• Experience of fieldwork to collect samples for pollutant analysis
• Experience of modelling software and methods for pollutant transport
• Experience in working with flumes and artificial rivers