Research Fellow (1A) (082919)

We are seeking to recruit a highly-motivated post-doctoral researcher to work on a short-term contract at the University if Surrey as part of the exciting new UKRI-funded Energy Revolution Research Consortium (“EnergyREV”).

EnergyREV aims to coordinate and integrate existing UK world-class knowledge, research teams and facilities to provide advice, research and innovation support to help ensure the success of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) Prospering from the Energy Revolution (PFER) programme. It is an interdisciplinary consortium comprising >20 universities, led by Professor Stephen McArthur at the University of Strathclyde. As a new and high-profile research consortium, this is an exciting opportunity to work with world class researchers and deliver important, meaningful and impactful research.

The project at the University of Surrey sits within the consortium’s theme on ‘Supporting scale-up’, and will explore the drivers and barriers for the replication and wider uptake of local energy systems. The researcher will contribute in particular to the development of a framework for exploring and capturing key influences on the prospects for, and implications of, replicating successful local energy systems. The researcher will support the understanding of the growth potential of smart local minigrids through an extensive literature review, but also development of practical insights from demonstration and research projects and case studies. The work will be undertaken in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University.

Candidates for this post should have a PhD in an energy-related discipline and experience of, and interest in, multidisciplinary research (eg involving technical, environmental, economic and social dimensions).   Familiarity and experience with one or more frameworks for exploring processes of system change will be important, eg innovation theory; socio-technical transitions; life cycle assessment; sustainability analysis.

This is an interdisciplinary role, entailing collaborative working with other researchers in the EnergyRev consortium, analysis of policy, regulation and innovation, technical, economic, social and environmental assessment of integrated energy demonstrators. The researcher will be expected to deliver clear and impactful communication targeted at senior decision makers, and to deliver high impact reports and published work.

The post will be based at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability(CES), an internationally-acclaimed centre of excellence on sustainable development. CES takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis of sustainable systems, to develop action-oriented, policy-relevant responses to long-term environmental and social issues.  You will work closely with colleagues in the wider EnergyREV consortium.

The position is available for a fixed term period of up to 5 months until end of March 2020. Further information about EnergyREV can be found at www.energyrev.org.uk

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Walter Wehrmeyer W.Wehrmeyer@surrey.ac.uk

Closing Date: 23 Oct 2019
Category: Research & Teaching