Actinides Centre of Excellence Research Fellow

The flagship Dalton Nuclear Research Fellowships are aimed at outstanding scientists and engineers at an early stage in their academic careers. Fellows should show a high level of innovation and ambition in their ideas, and want to develop potentially transformative, high-impact research. We anticipate at least 4 of these prestigious Fellowships to be offered. Each Fellowship is for an initial 4-year period. The Fellowship is an excellent stepping stone to establishing an academic career in nuclear science or engineering.

ELIGIBILITY TO APPLY

The Fellowship is for Early Career Researchers (ECRs). Applicants are expected to hold a PhD by the start date of the Fellowship or have equivalent research experience. There are no eligibility rules based on years of post-doctoral experience or whether the applicant holds a permanent academic position. The ethos of the Early Career Researcher scheme is to support candidates who have a track record of outstanding research and in delivering impact. Consideration will be given to applicants who have taken a non-standard career path after their primary degree. Applications are also welcome from candidates who wish to re-establish themselves after a career break or other period of absence from active research. Please note some of our fellowship options may require security clearance and/or have nationality restrictions.

APPOINTMENT DETAILS AND CONDITIONS

The scheme provides funding for at least 4 years covering the applicant’s salary, estate and indirect costs over this period. Successful candidates will undertake a limited amount of teaching-related work (up to 6 hours per week) as we aim to support the development of leading research programmes. Dalton Fellows who are about to start their first year are eligible to apply for a research grant of up to £20k, subject to a business case. There will also be an opportunity for PhD studentship to be allocated upon appointment. Candidates will be enrolled on the New Academics' Programme (NAP), which is part of a University wide approach to support new academics and to provide academic staff with the skills they need to carry out their research, teaching and learning and social responsibility duties at the highest level. All candidates will be provided with a senior colleague mentor with additional mentoring available for cross-School appointees.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Candidates are encouraged to consider research proposals in themes detailed in the attached document. It is recognised that several of these themes are new and emerging, so candidates are unlikely to possess extensive and direct experience within these areas. Therefore, submissions will be assessed primarily on the quality of the proposal and the relevant transferrable skills the candidate possesses (see Selection Criteria below). Research proposals outside of the listed themes but still within the broad nuclear domain will be considered. Some fellowship topic areas will be joint funded with an industry partner, meaning that proposals will need to appropriately match against the topic area to be considered for these industry funded fellowships. An industry fellowship jointly funded by AWE in the area of actinide analysis and spectroscopy has been confirmed. Further details on any further industry funded fellowships will be provided in due course.

Key contacts and information about the Institute can be found on the Dalton website and queries may be emailed to Prof. Phil Edmondson and Prof. Clint Sharrad, who will be leading this recruitment. A webinar or similar information sharing exercise, that will offer further details on the submission process and fellowship expectations, will be scheduled in due course.

Applications should be submitted via the application form on Jobtrain together with the following supporting documents noting the maximum page numbers for each document:

1. Curriculum Vitae (2 pages)

2. Please also upload your Research Proposal (2 pages), Academic Impact

3. Statement (1 page) and Statement of Strategic Fit (1 page). These three documents must be combined into a single pdf (4 pages in total)

SELECTION CRITERIA

The criteria for appointment will be based upon:

• Overall potential of the fellowship to establish and maintain a distinctive and outstanding research and/or innovation activity
• Quality of the proposal, particularly in relation to potential impact and deliverables
• The relevance of the proposal to the nuclear sector, industrial partners, policy stakeholders and/or academic funders
• Contribution to Dalton research priority area(s) outlined in an attached document or an alternative nuclear priority area of strategic importance.
• Quality of the transferrable skills, training and experience possessed by the candidate
• Potential to act as an ambassador and advocate in their field

What you will get in return:

• Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
• Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
• Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
• Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
• Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please be aware that due to the number of applications we unfortunately may not able to provide individual feedback on your application.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to View email address on jobs.manchester.ac.uk

Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Philip Edmondson; Clint Sharrad

Email: View email address on jobs.manchester.ac.uk ; View email address on jobs.manchester.ac.uk ; View email address on jobs.manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: View email address on jobs.manchester.ac.uk