Research Assistant / Research Associate in Energy System Resilience

Salary :

Research Assistant : £32,546 to £34,132 per annum

Research Associate : £35,116 to £37,174 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 : 07 July 2025

The Role

This post will deliver research and impact related to two EPSRC funded projects : ResTOrES (Resilience Toolkit for Offshore Energy Systems) and RENEW (Climate Resilient Heat Electrification for Net-Zero Emission Whole Energy).

The ResTOrES project will develop, test, and demonstrate a prototype resilience assessment toolkit for offshore energy systems. The toolkit will enable the quantification of resilience in terms of appropriate metrics during both standard operation (primarily governed by system reliability) and extreme events (primarily governed by robustness and restoration). This will be achieved by building on previous research which combined efficient optimization and sequential reliability assessment. The project is funded through an EPSRC call to accelerate research outcomes to achieve a prosperous net-zero and is supported by industrial and government partners including Equinor, Ofgem, and Kinewell Energy.

RENEW brings together experts from Newcastle University, Brunel University London, and Imperial College London to enhance the UK's energy system resilience through a whole-system analysis approach. Building on the proven WeSIM model, RENEW will upgrade its capabilities to incorporate electrified district heating and simulate the impacts of extreme weather using future-looking climate-based projections. It aims to identify cost-effective, climate-resilient investment pathways for the GB's whole energy system. The project is supported by national and regional stakeholders, including the Association for Decentralised Energy, Birmingham Energy Institute, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, Energy Demand Research Centre, Met Office, Newcastle City Council and Northern Powergrid.

Your core responsibilities will also involve contributing to the broader research activities on power and energy systems within the Electrical Power group. You will have the opportunity to contribute to other, strategic EPSRC projects such as the Supergen Energy Networks Hub and Energy the Demand Research Centre. Other collaboration and research opportunities will be available, such as through the Centre for Energy.

The post is full time, fixed term for 24 months. We aim to hold interviews in early June. A start date as close to 1st July 2025 is preferred although a later start can be discussed. You will be based in the newly renovated Stephenson building, located on Newcastle University's campus in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.

To apply, please upload a CV (academic style, 2 pages plus a publication list) and a cover letter (1 page A4). These should detail how your experience meets the requirements outlined in the job description and your interest in the role.

For more information or informal enquiries, please contact Dr David Greenwood, [email protected] (ResTOrES) or Dr Shahab Dehghan [email protected] (RENEW).

Key Accountabilities

• Support development and documentation of open-source data-driven climate-aware resilience assessment tools for whole energy systems
• Formulate and solve optimisation problems, developing solutions which have appropriate accuracy, precision, and speed
• Integrate optimisation problems into data-driven climate-aware resilience assessment frameworks
• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into the project's dissemination (technical reports, conference and journal papers)
• Present research findings, either at conferences or through high-quality publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, deal with problems which may affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s)
• Collect, analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes
• Mentor / co-supervise less experienced researchers / students in the group

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Desirable

Attributes and Behaviour

Qualifications

Research Assistant

In addition for Research Associate

We follow the Researcher Development Concordat. We enable all staff to fulfil their research potential regardless of career stage. This commitment secures our thriving research culture and vibrant research environment. Our offer to each individual and their researcher development involves mentoring, annual research planning discussions, pooled research funding to support career development and research activities, peer review support for the development of research and innovation funding applications.

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.

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.

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 : 28183

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