THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
Recruitment Role Profile Form
Job Title:
Research Associate/ Fellow in Deformation Monitoring of
Long Bridges
School/Department:
Civil Engineering
Salary:
£25,769 to £37,768 per annum, depending on skills and
experience (minimum £28,982 with relevant PhD). Salary
progression beyond this scale is subject to performance
Job Family and Level:
Research and Teaching Level 4 (Appointment will be Level
4 Career training grade where an appointment is made
before PhD has been completed)
Contract Status:
This post is available immediately and will be offered on a
fixed-term contract for 2 years after start date
Hours of Work:
36.25 hours per week, full-time
Location:
Nottingham Geospatial Building
Reporting to:
Dr Xiaolin Meng, Nottingham Geospatial Institute / Sino-UK
Geospatial Engineering Centre
Purpose of the New Role:
This post is required to support the delivery of the GeoSHM Demo project. GeoSHM Demo is a
Demonstration project that is sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA). This two-year
project is led by UbiPOS UK Ltd. and the University of Nottingham is its Sub-Contractor, with
its other partners from the UK and China. It is dedicated to the further development,
demonstration and marketing of the findings of GeoSHM Feasibility Study (GeoSHM FS) Project
that integrates the use of terrestrial based positioning and sensing, Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS), Earth Observation (EO) and communications techniques. GeoSHM Demo
addresses the urgent requirements of end users (such as bridgemasters) and engages with
leading suppliers of monitoring equipment and consultant engineers.
The post holder will undertake research, development and commercialization of an integrated
novel solution to address deformations of long bridges and other key structures such highrising building, wind turbines and dams. The successful candidate will work within the
positioning and navigation technologies team of the Nottingham Geospatial Institute and be
expected to contribute generally to the ongoing research activities. They will also be expected
to provide regular written and verbal presentations and reports to the project sponsor and
undertake a management role assisting in the supervision of PhD students. Some travel will
be required, attending meetings at the European Centre for Space Applications and
Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Harwell and working with industrial partners such Amey, Leica
Geosystems Ltd. and China partners.
Candidates must hold (or near completion) a PhD (or equivalent) in Structural Engineering,
Space and Engineering Geodesy, Engineering Surveying and Remote Sensing, or a relevant
discipline, and have significant research experience within academia, industry or Government
or relevant practical working experience in a research-related role.
1.
2.
3.
Main Responsibilities
%
time
per year
Project management and supervision:
Refining research objectives under the supervision of line manager Dr Xiaolin
Meng, setting up and managing resources in order to achieve research
outputs, organising and participating in meetings with other project staff to
clarify objectives, development of work plans/timetables with research and
support staff, communication of progress to work-package leaders and line
managers.
Research activities:
Investigating, understanding, innovating, developing and communicating on
the
core
research
areas,
namely,
Research,
development
and
commercialization of an integrated novel solution to address deformations of
long bridges and other key structures such high-rising building, wind turbines
and dams
Publications:
Preparation of research presentations and journal papers in order to
disseminate results, attending and presenting at internal/ external seminars
and national/ international conferences.
10%
80%
10%
Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience
Qualifications/
Education
Skills/Training
Experience
Essential
•
PhD (or near completion) or
equivalent in a GNSS, geospatial
or a relevant discipline.
•
Significant
relevant
research
experience
within
academia,
industry
or
Government
or
relevant
practical
working
experience in a research-related
role.
•
Record of research publications in
relevant area(s).
•
Knowledge and experience of
structural health monitoring of
bridges using GNSS and inertial
sensors.
•
Software design and development
skills.
•
Practical experimentation skills.
•
Organisation & time management
skills.
•
Good, evidenced interpersonal &
communication skills.
•
Experience of work within
interdisciplinary context.
an
Desirable
• Working
knowledge
general environmental
geosciences issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
of
and
Knowledge and experience of
image processing.
Java and C++ programming
skills.
Knowledge
of
Synthetic
Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth
Observations systems and
method.
Knowledge in environmental
GIS modelling.
Native-level
Chinese
language capacity.
Work experience within an
environmental domain.
Experience
in
ESA
programmes.
Decision Making
i)
Taken independently by the role holder
• Planning general research programme and direction.
• Making individual/team decisions about design and conduct of particular research methods
experiments.
• To assist in preparing applications for new research funding.
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• Maintenance and repair of equipment and apparatus.
• Advice on consumable and small scale purchasing.
ii)
Taken in collaboration with others
• Collaborative research applications.
• Direction of students/collaborators research.
• Investigation and decisions about new apparatus/equipment for the group.
• Publication decisions, papers, conference abstracts etc.
• Proposals for grant application.
• Strategy for long-term research programme.
iii)
Referred to the appropriate line manager (please name) by the role holder
Dissemination strategy.
Purchasing decisions, including travel.
Overall research direction.
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