Job description Post title and post number Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher – 52809 Organisation advertising Description School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering & Physical Sciences Post number 52809 Full-time/Part-time Full-time Duration of post Fixed term contract for 36 months Post is open to: Internal and external candidates Grade 7 Salary Salary (which will be subject to UK taxation) will be at the EU Marie Curie rate of £31,944 per annum. This will be a fixed salary with no increments or pay awards for the duration of the post. Additional information For informal enquiries please contact Dr Hassan Hemida on email h.hemida@bham.ac.uk Terms and conditions Research and Analogous Staff (non-clinical) All candidates are advised to visit the following website to obtain further details of the eligibility requirements for Marie Curie initiatives, see particularly page 8 to assess your criteria before making an application: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/documents/aboutmca/actions/iof/marie-curie-actions-fellowships-people-wp201301_en.pdf Closing date 7th April 2015 Job summary To contribute to the achievement of the School’s research strategy by undertaking research activities in the area of Wind Energy Harvesting. As wind energy is considered one of the most promising renewable energy resources, energy production technologies relying on wind energy are currently flourishing under the EU ambitious plan for 2020. Market demands to prepare a generation of researchers within the EU that are able to face the challenge of fulfilling the EU ambitious plan, to sustain the production of wind energy and to innovate and promote wind energy systems (WES) for the future needs are clearly met in the recently awarded EUH2020 MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ITN project “AEOLUS4FUTURE”. The primary research aim of AEOLUS4FUTURE is to develop a sustainable WES for a variety of EU needs. There are a number of detailed scientific and technical issues that will be addressed by the project starting from identifying the wind energy potential (off-shore and on-shore, including the built environment) to the design of a sustainable and highly efficient WES. Also the new challenging load conditions imposed on wind farms located on places where existing type of wind turbine towers are not suitable require the development of new type of support structures for wind energy converters. This fosters new structural concepts taking advantage of high performance materials e.g. high strength steel and novel maintenance free fasteners. In addition, while most research efforts and practical applications of wind energy have focused on large-scale wind installations in remote offshore or onshore areas, much less attention has been given to wind energy installations near buildings. The project has a major training aim to create technical experts who will be able to lead the necessary industrial developments in the WES, and have a broad overview of a new and emerging multi-disciplinary field. The project will thus enable a number of young scientists and engineers to obtain high level training in various technical aspects of the problem, to gain an overall understanding of how this work fits into the wider EU Directives and plans for the future and in doing so to improve their career prospects. AEOLUS4FUTURE allows the recruitment of 15 ESRs. Typically, the ESR is expected to be enrolled to a PhD programme. To deliver this project the School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham is seeking to appoint two (2) highly qualified Early Stage Researcher (ESR) positions. This position (ESR 2) will be dealing with monitoring and integrity of operation of land-based wind energy converters. The objective is to develop and demonstrate an integrated prognostic condition monitoring for wind turbines. The ESR will demonstrate knowledge in academic research in general and in the area of electrical machines and power electronics, including background knowledge of the state of art of electrical power conversion systems for wind turbines. A deep knowledge in understanding condition monitoring systems for the electrical system of wind turbines with a particular emphasis to real-time methods will be developed during the project. The ESR will be supervised by Dr P. Tricoli, Dr H. Hemida and Prof C. Baniotopoulos. Details of the other position (ESR 1) are available under job reference no 52796. Main duties     Undertake prescribed research tasks in accordance with specified research projects in order to support the achievement of the School’s research strategy. Follow prescribed steps in data analysis and experimental design when directed. Suggest and contribute to the development of research techniques, models and methods in collaboration with colleagues Undertake collection of research data through a variety of research methods such as experimentation and research interviews.                  Disseminate research findings at internal meetings, meetings of the CODDE network and at international scientific meetings Prepare work for written research reports and publications when directed Prioritise tasks within agreed work schedule to ensure that projects are delivered on time. Carry out routine administrative tasks associated with specified research projects, eg organisation and documentation of project meetings. Assist in supervision of undergraduate students working in similar projects. Liaise and collaborate with students and researchers at the University of Birmingham and more widely within the CODDE network. Assistance in contributing to and maintaining the CODDE web site. To follow best practice in research including keeping accurate records of research undertaken Attend the scheduled Training Courses of the consortium. To plan and develop research contributions to subject area using methodologies, critical evaluations, interpretations, analyses and other appropriate techniques To contribute in the project workshops and training schools. To contribute to writing bids for research grants To suggest and contribute to the development of research techniques, models and methods in collaboration with colleagues To disseminate research findings using appropriate and effective media such as publication, research seminars etc To provide guidance to other staff and students on own specialist area To contribute to the production of research reports and publications To prepare papers for Steering groups and other bodies Scope of the Role      To carry out research as outlined in the AEOLUS4FUTURE ITN project application. Operate within area of specialism Analyse and interpret research findings and results Contribute to generating funding Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar. Person specification         First class degree or equivalent and normally, a Master degree in relevant subject area (e.g. Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical or Electronic Engineering, Mathematics, Physics)(in line with the Marie Curie criteria – see below). Candidates should not be in possession of a PhD qualification Thorough understanding and direct relevant experience of research methods and processes relevant to experiments involving healthy human adults Excellent IT, programming and communication skills. Ability to work as part of a team and also to work independently using own initiative. Knowledge of computational techniques and sound grasp of mathematics High level analytical capability Ability to communicate complex information clearly     Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes At the time of appointment, the applicant must also meet the Marie Curie criteria for this post: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/fp7/184060/reaannex3-itn-idp_en.pdf Planning and Organising    Attend and contribute to subject group meetings. Contribute to the planning of research projects Coordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort Decision Making  Decide in consultation with the principal investigator as appropriate, on the most appropriate way of undertaking the specified research activities  Decide in consultation with the principal investigator as appropriate how to analyse and interpret the data from the specified research activities  Decide in consultation with the principal investigator as appropriate what knowledge to draw on and how to apply it to develop new intellectual understanding  Contribute to deciding what information to include in a bid for research funding and how to present the bid to maximise the likelihood of securing the funding  Decide in collaboration with co-authors which aspects of the research findings to include in a presentation or a publication and how to convey the findings  Give guidance, support and advice to students on research related work including PhD students and decide the most appropriate method of providing this supervision. se resources and facilities as appropriate. Internal/External Relationships     Liaise with colleagues, students and support staff Participate in internal networks for the exchange of information. Liaise with external collaborators on the research, where appropriate Give presentations and/or contribute to presentations at national and/or international conferences and other scientific events  Liaise with the relevant external research community via seminars and conferences