Research Associate in Materials Modelling

Salary: £34,866 to £45,163 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 25 November 2024

The Role

We are looking to appoint two Research Associates in the modelling of solid-state battery materials in the Ion Transport and Interfaces Group of Dr. James A. Dawson at Newcastle University. Each position is initially for 2 years with the possibility of extension to 4 years.

The first of the positions is focused on cathode materials for solid-state batteries. Specifically, you will use atomistic modelling to explore both the intrinsic properties of state-of-the-art cathodes (e.g., LiNiO2, NMC and LiFePO4) and their stability and direct interaction with a range of solid electrolytes. This will involve the creation of both implicit and explicit interfacial models.    

For the second position, you will be responsible for developing microstructural models of topical solid electrolytes (oxides, sulfides and halides) to probe their properties as a function of, for example, particle size, densification and porosity. This will be achieved using a combination of density functional theory, classical molecular dynamics, machine learning approaches and other complementary computational methods. 

You will be involved in a large UKRI Frontier Research Grant (“AMPed”) that will be carried out in collaboration with world-leading experimental partners in the UK, Europe and North America. Our ambition is to develop and apply state-of-the-art computational and experimental techniques to provide a fundamental understanding of structure, ion transport and interfaces in solid electrolytes for clean energy applications. Such an understanding will allow for the design of enhanced solid-state batteries and other energy devices. 

For informal enquiries please contact Dr. James A. Dawson [email protected]. 

For further information about our research please see the Dawson Group website. 

Applications should be made through the Newcastle University jobs portal: https://jobs.ncl.ac.uk, where you are invited to provide evidence of how you meet the essential criteria required for the role outlined in ‘The Person’ by uploading a letter of application along with your Curriculum Vitae (CV). 

Key Accountabilities

• To design, carry out and analyse computational simulations
• To liaise with the principal investigator and other team members to plan, organise and carry out the work programme
• To disseminate research results through appropriate media. This will include authoring or co-authoring papers for publication in high-quality academic journals
• To contribute to existing and new interdisciplinary collaborations
• To train and assist undergraduate and postgraduate students in theoretical techniques and computational methods
• Represent the research group and disseminate information about its work at national and international events
• Contribute to learning and development through the provision of documentation, training and advice
• Undertake relevant training and development activities in order to develop an awareness of own professional development needs
• Maintain and develop knowledge to keep abreast of the latest and most relevant technologies
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Experience in the simulation of solid-state and/or energy materials
• Experience in molecular dynamics and electronic structure simulations
• Experience in Python programming
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• High level of problem-solving capacity

Attributes and Behaviour

• Comfortable working both individually and have good team working skills
• Capacity for original thought
• Enthusiasm and a strong work ethic
• Ability to interact with researchers with different backgrounds
• Ability to communicate scientific results to a broad or non-specialist audience
• Ability and willingness to work in interdisciplinary environments
• Well-developed interpersonal communication skills that enable you to engage external and internal stakeholders and work effectively in a multidisciplinary team

Qualifications

• An undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a relevant science subject, such as chemistry, physics or materials science
• A Ph.D. in the field of computational chemistry or materials science or a related discipline
   

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 27704