Marie Curie Early Stage Research Associate in Energy Harvesting from Road Pavements (ESR 14)

The Department of Engineering at Lancaster University, UK is seeking an outstanding and ambitious candidate for a position as a Marie Curie Early Stage Career Research Associate within the EU H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network Actions H2020-MSCA-ITN-SAFERUP (Sustainable, Accessible, Safe, Resilient and Smart Urban Pavements). SAFERUP is led by the University of Bologna, Italy and includes participants from UK, France, Italy, Austria, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, USA, China and Australia.

The research project (ESR 14) focuses on the development of low-cost and efficient engineering systems to harvest green energy through civil infrastructure surfaces (i.e. pavements and bridges). You will employ a holistic approach to design and develop energy harvesting systems for roadway surfaces to convert ambient mechanical and thermal energies to electrical energy. You will use coupled computational modelling and experimental approaches to optimise the energy harvesting systems for high power output. You will also study the compatibility of energy converter devices for storage. As part of SAFERUP training programme, you will undertake a 4 months secondment with our academic partner University of Texas at San Antonio, USA as well as a 2 months industrial secondment with our industrial partner CLARET, USA.

You will be expected to register as a PhD candidate student at Lancaster University on meeting the enrolment criteria of the PhD programme.

Applicants of any nationalities are eligible and must meet Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher (ESR) eligibility criteria. In particular, you must not have resided in the UK for more than 12 months in the last 3 years immediately prior to commencing the ESR position. You must have less than 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience and must not hold a doctoral degree at the selection time.

You will have or expect to obtain a first or upper second-class MSc degree or equivalent in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Materials Science or closely related fields.
You must have excellent English skills. An IELTS score of at least 6.5 is required.
A background in multifunctional civil engineering materials, piezoelectricity, thermoelectricity, or multiscale modelling (from atom to macro scale) is desirable.
You must have excellent interpersonal skills, work effectively in a team and have experience of the preparation of presentations, reports or journal papers to the highest levels of quality.

For full consideration, applicants must complete the application form (the application form is available to download at https://site.unibo.it/saferup) and submit the form with a research proposal in line with the ESR 14 project topic, a motivation letter, CV, copies of BSc and MSc transcripts and certificates; and at least of 2 reference letters.