Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Research Officer - School of Chemical Engineering

Full Job Description

• School of Chemical Engineering

• Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50

• Investigate the photo(electro)catalytic methane conversion process

• Full-time, Fixed term up to 12 months

• Visa sponsorship is not available 

• Based at our St Lucia Campus

As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.

As part of our commitment to research excellence, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and post-fellowship contracts via our UQ Amplify initiative .

At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. Not only do we have one of the largest PhD enrolments in Australia, but we have also made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Research Officer will investigate the photo(electro)catalytic methane conversion process. You will be joining the team of Professor Lianzhou Wang, who is leading this project.

As a research focused academic at level A the incumbent will be supported and guided by more senior academic research staff with the expectation of an increasing degree of autonomy over time.

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Work within the cross-disciplinary team of researchers and students in green energy utilisation to achieve the objectives of the research project.

• Develop and synthesize efficient photo/electrocatalysts for methane conversion.

• Perform structure analysis of the catalysts to understand the structure-performance relationship.

• Document research findings and publish scholarly papers in high-quality refereed international journals, books or conference proceedings.

• Participate in applications for competitive research funding to support projects and activities and work with colleagues in the development of joint research projects and applications for competitive research funding support.

Supervision and Researcher Development

• Contribute to the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).

• Demonstrates personal effectiveness in supervision and the management of researcher development.

• Effectively lead and develop supervisee performance and conduct by providing feedback, coaching, and professional development.

• As appropriate, manage research support staff effectively throughout the employee lifecycle in accordance with the University policy and procedures.

• Work promptly to resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with the University policy and procedures.

Citizenship and Service

• Demonstrate citizenship behaviours that align to the UQ values.

• Shows leadership of self through collaboration and active participation in priority activities for the unit.

• Provide support to other academic positions and unit operations as needed during other team members absences.

• Contribute to internal service roles and administrative processes as required, including participation in decision-making and service on relevant committees.

• Collaborate in service activities external to the immediate organisation unit.

• Begin to develop external links and partnerships by cultivating relationships with industry, government departments, professional bodies and the wider community.

• Perform a range of administrative functions in the laboratory and/or research group as needed, including an ability and willingness to serve as a laboratory manager if required.

• Contribute to the development of a positive safety culture in the School.

• Demonstrate citizenship behaviours that align to the UQ values.

• Show leadership of self through collaboration and active participation in priority activities for the unit.

• Provide support to other academic positions and unit operations as needed during other team members absence.

• Any other duties as reasonably directed by your supervisor.

This is a research focused academic position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance .

This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position for up to 12 months at an Academic level A.

The full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $74,308.68 - $99,426.59, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $86,941.16 - $116,329.11 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.  

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad:  from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options and flexible start/finish times, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

• Completion of a PhD in the fields of chemical engineering, materials engineering, or similar field.

• An emerging profile in research in the discipline area.

• Have a strong background in photo/electrochemistry and relevant experience in small molecule catalysis.

• Sound knowledge of material properties and characterisation (especially complex oxide semiconductors), electrocatalytic performance and device fabrication.

• Extensive experience in design and fabricate functional semiconducting materials, e.g., polar semiconductors, defect engineering, is essential.

• Experience with a range of advanced in-situ/ex-situ structural characterisation techniques, e.g., AC-TEM, in-situ Raman, synchrotron-based XAS, PD, IR.

• Experience with spectrometer characterisations, including TAS, TRPL, PL, Raman, FTIR and UV-Vis spectrometers.

• Sound experience with setting up purpose-design devices/facility.

• A track record of publications in reputed refereed journals and presenting at conferences.

• Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding would be a plus.

• Some experience in meaningful internal service roles and contributions towards external activities.

• Demonstrated competence in generating meaningful outcomes for scientific publications.

• The ability to work both as part of a team, and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are required.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights:  You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment. 

• Background Checks:  All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits. 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Dr Zhiliang Wang . For application queries, please contact stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line. 
 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Resume

• Cover letter

• Responses to the ‘About You’ section

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion .  We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to   

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close on 24 November 2023 at 11.00pm AEST (R-32367).