EPSRC Research Fellow

Job title:

EPSRC Research Fellow

Company

University College London

Job description

About us The Department of Mathematics at UCL is an internationally renowned department within one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Since its beginning, mathematics at UCL has been enhanced by its many outstanding members of staff. Indeed, two of its students (and later staff) Professor Klaus Roth (1958) and Professor Alan Baker (1970) have gone on to win the Fields Medal. Another former member of staff Professor Tim Gowers won the Fields Medal in 1998 for work he did whilst at UCL.Since 2011 the department has grown considerably. There are approximately 81 academic members of whom 34 are full professors, and a number of Honorary members of staff, including Fellows of the Royal Society. The department also has approximately 31 Postdoctoral Research Fellows, around 102 PhD students and 41 MSc students. We also welcome a regular stream of distinguished visiting academics from home and abroad. The broad range of research interests is reflected in the large choice of courses available in the third and fourth years of the degree programmes, from spectral theory, groups and geometry to fluid mechanics and from mathematical ideas in biology to cosmology. Research funding in the department from EPSRC, ERC, Leverhulme Trust and the Wellcome Trust has grown significantly in recent years with an increase of 70% in total funding since 2011.About the role Research activities
The main aim of this role is to develop an advanced image-based in-silico framework that provides spinal surgeons with vital information on which vertebra are most at risk of fracture in the near future, preventing unnecessary surgery on patients at low risk while more accurately identifying the high-risk patients. This will involve development of a nonlinear finite-element model of a metastatic vertebra, coupled to a tumour model (under development by collaborators in UCL Mechanical Engineering), that can predict the stress distribution generated by a set of typical loading scenarios and subsequently assess potential fracture risk. The assessed risk should enable clinicians to target the most unstable vertebra for intervention. This framework will need to be validated against in-vitro and ex-vivo experimental data, conducted by collaborators at the Universities of Birmingham and Leeds; it will also be used to identify adverse scenarios for experimental testing. The developed framework will then be used to validate and guide the proposed minimally invasive implant design (being developed at Imperial College) within a metastatic vertebra over a range of loading scenarios to determine how it mitigates current fracture risk.Duties and Responsibilities

• Development and validation of a computational model framework to predict vertebral fracture risk in metastatic bone disease.
• Integrating this model with a tumour growth model (under development) to predict future fracture risk along with the minimally-invasive implant performance in terms of risk mitigation.
• Assist/support the development of experimental protocols and implant design by working side-by-side with clinical experts and our collaborators in these areas.
• Plan and perform computational simulations, as well as record, analyse and provide written and/or oral reports of the results of the simulations.
• Keep the Principal Investigators up-to-date with the progress and timing of agreed simulations. • Liaise with other team members and stakeholders in the OncoEng programme across all institutions, including participation in engagement and dissemination events with researchers, clinicians and patient representatives.
• Devise, write, submit and, more generally, contribute to research papers to appropriate peer-reviewed journals.
• Contribute to the preparation and drafting of research bids and proposals.
• Perform some routine duties in the department and across campus as well as participate in relevant seminars etc.
• Prepare and present research findings to colleagues and at relevant national and international research conferences.
• Contribute to the overall research activities of the department as required.
• To work within financial budget constraints.
• Contribute to the induction and direction of other research staff and students as requested.
• Work toward becoming an independent researcher
• To carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager or head of department.

Teaching
The successful candidate will be teaching one undergraduate level course per year. The successful candidate will be writing and marking examinations as well as carrying out duties of 2nd examiner.Management and Administration
The successful candidate will comply with institutional and departmental policies on Fire and Health & Safety Regulations, Equal Opportunities, and other matters. They will undertake administrative duties in line with the post.As duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and amended in consultation with the postholder. The postholder will be responsible directly to Prof Nicholas Ovenden and will work within a larger UCL OncoEng research group with Prof Rebecca Shipley (UCL Mechanical Engineering) and Prof Simon Walker-Samuel (Imaging).About you Candidates must hold, or be about to receive, a PhD in Mathematics, Engineering or closely-related discipline. The successful candidate should demonstrate a publication record appropriate to their level of experience. In addition, candidates should have outstanding skills and experience in mathematical and/or computational modelling in continuum mechanics, including some knowledge of solid mechanics, finite-element methods, ordinary and partial differential equations. The candidate should also possess excellent skills in programming using at least one of the following languages: Python, C++, Julia, Matlab. The successful candidate will have outstanding communication skills: in particular, the ability to enthusiastically work in a multidisciplinary team on a collaborative project that combines mechanical modelling, clinical expertise, experimental data, and engineering design. The successful candidate will also have outstanding problem-solving skills and the ability to promptly identify and overcome potential development risk.The successful candidate will have a commitment to high quality academic research, a high level of motivation, the ability to effectively prioritise your workload and work to strict deadlines. The successful candidate will also have a high level of written and spoken English and a commitment to continuing professional development. Furthermore, the successful candidate will have a commitment to UCL’s policy of equal opportunity and the ability to work harmoniously with colleagues and students of all cultures and backgrounds.It is desirable for the successful candidate to have experience working using computing platforms for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) using finite- element methods (FEMs). Another desirable criteria for the successful candidate is an interest in combining model- and data-driven methods and a willingness to develop new skills at the interface of engineering, mathematics and medicine.What we offer As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• Approximately 41 Days of holiday
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for specific posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent.
We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.
These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/.Available documents

Expected salary

Location

North West London

Job date

Sun, 02 Jun 2024 00:14:33 GMT

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