Research Fellow in Digital Manufacturing - Experimental

About us

UCL Department of Chemical Engineering is one of the top research and teaching departments in the UK and has world-class standing. The department offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and has an extensive research portfolio across a wealth of areas, and from molecular scale to complex systems.
This position is within the EPSRC project “Development of a machine learning-assisted digital twin platform for real-time optimisation of reaction systems under uncertainty”(https://gow.epsrc.ukri.org/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/X024016/1). This project is a joint collaboration between experts in systems engineering and reactor engineering from UCL and engineers, analytical/process chemists and statisticians from leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies (GSK, BASF, Johnson Matthey) and SMEs (Autichem, Quotient Sciences) to deliver an innovative hardware/software tool leveraging automation and physics-informed machine learning technologies to speed up laboratory research and to accelerate process development in chemicals and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries.

About the role

The post-holder will undertake research of significant industrial and academic relevance in the development of a continlous reactor platform for the automation and optimisation of flow systems for autonomous chemical synthesis. In the Industry 4.0 era, the rapid development of robust chemical manufacturing processes is hampered by the time and effort required to obtain highly predictive mathematical models to be used in “digital twins” of reaction systems, i.e., digital surrogates that can be used for the agile simulation, design, optimisation and scale-up of chemical reaction processes. In this EPSRC project the goal is to develop a digital twin platform, where physics-informed machine learning (ML) and optimal experimental design algorithms are coupled to enable agile exploration of the chemical process design space, fast identification of optimal reaction conditions and mechanistic understanding of chemical reaction systems using the minimum number of experimental runs.

To achieve these goals, techniques for continuous flow processing, online advanced process analytics, optimal design of experiments, physics-informed ML and advanced data analysis need to be integrated to deliver a fully automated, self-optimizing reactor platform for chemical production. The digital twin platform will enable to speed up laboratory research and accelerate process development in the chemicals and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries, facilitating the cost-effective continuous manufacture of chemical products.

This is a fixed-term role for 2 years in the first instance with the possibility of extension.
Salary is between £39,508-£43,792 per annum at grade 7 spine points 29-33. Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B (salary £35,702 - £37,548 per annum) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD Thesis.

This role meets the eligibility requirements for a skilled worker certificate of sponsorship or a global talent visa under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. Therefore, UCL welcomes applications from international applicants who require a visa.

This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Research and Professional Services Staff. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/conditions-service-research-teaching-and-professional-services-staff for more information.

A job description and person specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

About you

The ideal candidate should have completed or near completed a PhD in Chemical Engineering or a cognate discipline, and have a proven track record on chemical reactor design, commissioning, evaluation and operation, experimental skills on continuous reactor platforms with online analysis. The ideal candidate should be an effective communicator in written and spoken media, demonstrate a passion for research and experimentation and show a strong desire to study and learn new concepts.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (including 27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/