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Chemical & Process Engineering

Location: Guildford
Salary: £36,024 to £44,263  per annum depending on experience
This is a fixed term position for two years.
Post Type: Full Time
Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Wednesday 22 May 2024
Reference: 067023-R

The University of Surrey is a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research.

We are ambitious and have a bold vision of what we want to achieve - shaping ourselves into one of the best universities in the world, which we are achieving through the talents and endeavour of every employee.  

Our culture empowers people to achieve this aim and to collectively, and individually, make a real difference.  

The role

This project is part of a multi-institutional EPSRC programme focused on Sustainable Manufacturing with advanced electrochemical approaches. The programme involves 4 universities (Surrey, Loughborough, Imperial College London, and Heriot-Watt) and a number of industrial partners. Our vision is to create the first-of-its-kind Zero Carbon Loss manufacturing system that will pave the way for the UK to reach the 2050 Net Zero target, and achieve the Green Industrial Revolution. This will be enabled by developing a novel biomanufacturing route with carbon capture and utilisation (BMCCU) that can produce sustainable bioproducts (e.g., detergents, polymer, medicine, etc) with net zero loss of carbon resources flow throughout the manufacturing life cycle and supply chain. The project will also take a whole system approach to address wider economic, social and environmental challenges for the sustainable evolution of bio-based industries.

This project will be based in the Department of Chemical Engineering in the School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering (AACME). Following a recent £25 million refurbishment, the department houses a range of state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and a modern office environment. 

We are committed to achieving equality for all those who learn and work here and providing a diverse and inclusive working environment. We will consider reasonable adjustments commensurate with the project requirements.

Full project details

We are seeking to recruit a talented and enthusiastic Research Associate with strong modelling, simulation and digitalisation backgrounds to conduct research on digital twin of electrochemical manufacturing processes and systems. The appointed Research Associate will create a digital-twin-empowered intelligent manufacturing system that will self-optimise the multistage biomanufacturing route with carbon capture and utilisation (BMCCU) process and system. The digital twin will reflect real time update of the physical twin developed by the experimental team at Imperial College, and embed the economic, environmental and social indicators from the system sustainability team at Heriot-Watt University.

The project is led by Prof Jin Xuan.

About you

Candidates must hold (or be close to completion of) a PhD in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science or other relevant major degrees. Candidates should apply online, carefully answer all the application form questions, and attach a curriculum vitae (with details on education, research experiences, successes and the relevant publications to date). As part of the application, the applicant should also upload two letters of recommendation as the supporting documents.

How to apply

Please apply with a CV and Cover letter. Prospective applicants can contact Prof. Jin Xuan (j.xuan@surrey.ac.uk) or Dr. Lei Xing (l.xing @surrey.ac.uk) if they need any specific further information on the post.

Further details:       

Please note, it is University Policy to offer a starting salary equivalent to Level 3.6 (£34,980) to successful applicants who have been awarded, but are yet to receive, their PhD certificate.  Once the original PhD certificate has been submitted to the local HR Department, the salary will be increased to Level 4.1 (£36,024).