Research Associate, School of Biosciences

Job Purpose

The £1.3 million NERC funded B3 project led by University of Birmingham aims to show a paradigm shift in how we approach sustainably the dual problems of 'clean' resource extraction from mining wastes and secondary wastes, reconciling with the need to deliver high value products from dwindling resources in a low carbon, low waste way into 21st Century green technologies.

The end goal of B3 is to unite a consortium of problem holders, researchers, technology providers and end users to harness three disparate, proven biotechnologies to deliver multiple integrated systems and to prove the potential of the biorefined materials via an embedded life cycle analysis. The purpose of the job is employ the tools of Life Cycle Analysis to deliver this embedded analysis in the context of 3-5 exemplar ‘case histories’ in a form that can be appreciated in context by the appropriate target communities.

B3 will have an embedded significant (~15% of the total project (delivered with the input of the postholder) life cycle analysis iterative assessment of highlighted systems, with end user trialling. The role holder, based in industry but employed by and managed jointly with University of Birmingham, will aim to evaluate 3-5 'waste into resource' biorefinery processes from within the B3 consortium to compare with current industrial process and / or disposal routes and produce an in depth life cycle analysis for each option.

Person Specification

We are looking for a Research Associate to work with other team members under the direction of one or more project managers assisted by industry mentors to provide the project with high quality results derived from published databases and new data from the B3 consortium within project schedules and budgets. The Research Associate would support project work to assess the environmental outcomes associated with products and infrastructure systems; to identify preferred products, processes, and policies and to create new approaches for sustainability analysis. Duties will also include co-authoring a contribution into a Book Chapter as the initial route of dissemination of the results.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

We are looking for candidates who are passionate about and have experience in data-driven sustainability analysis. Specific skills and qualifications include:

• • Degree or equivalent in in science, engineering, economics, policy analysis, or a related technical field.
• • Demonstrated ability to apply life cycle assessment through work experience, preferably environmental consulting and/or coursework.
• • Familiarity with a wide range of data sources relevant for environmental and policy analysis, and the ability to identify and engage experts to conduct research. Capable of identifying key features of complex processes.
• • Well-developed problem-solving, systems thinking, quantitative, and critical thinking skills; intellectual curiosity. Able to formulate solutions to poorly structured problems.
• • Highly motivated and detail oriented with the ability to work independently and demonstrate a professional attitude.
• • Good interpersonal skills
• • Willingness to undertake limited UK travel to meet project partners (typically one day per fortnight).
• • Good written and communication skills, including the ability to present complex information so that it is understandable to a non-technical audience.
• • Strong computer skills relevant for data manipulation and analysis including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• • Experience with Gabi software or other Life Cycle Analyst software is desirable.