Research Assistant

Salary: £30,619 to £31,502 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: 16 June 2023

The Role

Are you a synthetic chemist with interests in developing game-changing new protocols to make energy storage materials?

This is an exciting opportunity with responsibility for Chemistry Research on a 3-year Research Project funded by the Leverhulme Trust at Newcastle University.

The research aims to develop new solvent-free, rapid and mild protocols to synthesise inorganic battery materials, focusing on the cathode materials for Li-ion, Na-ion and Li-metal batteries. These will change the current industrial landscape: currently these materials are being manufactured through energy intense, carbon-heavy, high-temperature and long-time procedures.

You will work closely with a multidisciplinary team at Newcastle University (NU) including both experimental synthetic chemists and computational chemists working on this project. You will be based within the research group of Dr Erli Lu, and closely collaborate with colleagues in the groups of Drs James Dawson and John Errington: the Lu, Dawson and Errington groups are all at the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences (SNES).

The day-to-day work content includes: (1) Synthesizing and characterising air-/moisture-sensitive materials using mechanochemical ball mill and glovebox; (2) Collaborating with the Dawson group to model the material structures; (3) Writing reports and manuscripts under the PI’s supervision; (4) Helping the PI and other group members for day-to-day laboratory management and health & safety duties; (5) Attending international/national conferences and presenting your outputs.

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles .  These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.

The role is offered on a full-time basis, and is available for 35 months from the start date (01st July, 2023).

For more information about the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, please click: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/nes/  

SNES holds an Athena SWAN bronze award, in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality.

To apply, please complete an online application and upload a CV and a 1-page cover letter. Your cover letter is a supporting statement, and you should outline how you meet the essential criteria of the role and evidence this with examples.

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Erli Lu, email: [email protected]

Key Accountabilities

• Conducting experiments to synthesise and characterize the materials in collaboration with John Errington group (Newcastle), including using argonatmosphere glovebox, mechanochemical ball mill (mixer mill), X-ray diffractometers (single-crystal and powder), NMR and IR spectrometers
• Organizing and managing collaborations with the computational modelling group (Dr James Dawson, SNES, NU)
• Writing manuscripts/reports
• Day-to-day laboratory management and health & safety duties
• Attending conferences and presenting outputs
• To train and assist undergraduate and postgraduate students
• 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

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Experience in anaerobic chemical synthesis using glovebox and Schlenk line
• Experience in mechanochemistry
• Experience in Group-1 alkali metal chemistry
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• High level of problem solving skills

Attributes and Behaviour

• Comfortable working both individually and as a team member
• Capability of independent and critical thinking
• Enthusiastic strong work ethic
• Ability and willingness to network within and without the communities of synthetic chemistry, mechanochemistry and materials science
• Well-rounded 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 chemistry
• A Ph.D. (or about to have a Ph.D. shortly after starting the post) in inorganic chemistry

Desirable

• A strong publication track-record in international peer-review journals, preferably as first-author
• Experience in attending international academic conferences and presenting their work

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.

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

Requisition ID: 25604