Research Associate in Digital Hydraulic Fluid Power (FM12347)

Job title Research Associate in Digital Hydraulic Fluid Power

Department Mechanical Engineering

Salary Starting from £37,999, rising to £45,163

Grade Grade 7

Contract Type Full Time, Fixed Term

Placed on Tuesday 07 January 2025

Closing date Tuesday 04 February 2025

Interview date To be confirmed

Reference FM12347

Applicant Visa Guidance Skilled Worker visa: guidance for applicants (bath.ac.uk)

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We are seeking two Research Associates to take a key role in the design and development of digital hydraulic fluid power technologies and control systems. The roles are funded by the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, investigating Digital Hydraulic Fluid Power Technologies for Decarbonising Off-road Vehicles.

Hydraulic fluid power has several advantages, such as high power density, compactness, low weight, fast response, and good controllability. However, the current hydraulic control method involves using valves to throttle flow, reduce pressure, and control the speed and force of the load. Although this approach is simple to operate, it is highly energy inefficient, and the average power efficiency of fluid power systems is only about 21%.

This project aims to design, develop and prototype next-generation digital hydraulic technologies and control systems to significantly improve hydraulic energy efficiency, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions to decarbonise off-road vehicles for a sustainable and greener future. In addition, there are also opportunities to conduct interdisciplinary research on highly efficient actuation mechanisms, collaborating with colleagues nationally and internationally.

You will be responsible for delivering high-quality research on the topic, including:

You will be responsible for planning and performing your own research activities and will be expected to take an active role in supporting PhD and undergraduate research students within the laboratory.

These positions are offered on a fixed term basis with an expected end date of 31st March 2027.

Our ideal candidates will

You should have excellent interpersonal and communication skills to work as part of a team and discuss your work with a range of audiences.

A lower grade offer may be made (Grade 6) with comparable reduction in responsibilities and amendment in job title to Research Assistant, if a suitable applicant cannot be found to fill the Grade 7 position. Applicants will need to be within six months of their course completion date and will be promoted to Research Associate once their PhD has been awarded.

For an informal discussion please contact Prof Min Pan at [email protected] however please ensure that you submit your application through our website.

What we can offer you:

Find out more about our benefits.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our Safer Recruitment commitment.

We are very proud to be an autism friendly university and are an accredited Disability Confident Leader; committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

Find out from our staff what makes the University of Bath a great place to work. Follow us @UniofBath and @UniofBathJobs on Twitter for more information.

We are constantly seeking to reduce the unconscious bias that enters any assessment process, with the goal of creating an inclusive and equal assessment process. To support this, personal details such as your name, may be removed from application forms at the initial shortlisting stage.