Job reference: SAE-026526
Salary: £36,024-£44,263 per annum depending on experience
Faculty/Organisational Unit: Science and Engineering
Location: Oxford Road
Employment type: Fixed Term
Division/Team: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Hours Per Week: Full Time (1 FTE)
Closing date (DD/MM/YYYY): 04/10/2024
Contract Duration: Fixed Term for 48 months
School/Directorate: School of Engineering

Job Description


A Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position is available for an outstanding and ambitious high voltage engineer to undertake research in the development of high voltage dynamic DC cable applications. The research is a Horizon Europe project coordinated by the University of Manchester and in close collaboration with ETH Zurich, University of Vienna, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, NKT Cable Group, Shell France, Shell Research Ltd, S&B Insurance Advisors, Arttic Innovation. This project is part of a rapidly growing research area at the University of Manchester on high voltage transmission cables to deliver a resilient network for net-zero.

The position will be held in the High Voltage Research Group. You will be developing a new generation of filled polymeric materials for applications high voltage cables. One of the key missions of this project is to provide transformative research and knowledge on how DC dynamic cable insulation systems are assessed in the future. Within this context, you will work on the design and development of a high voltage DC testing circuit to investigate the various parameters that could negatively impact the reliability of DC dynamic cable in representative environmental conditions. Through experimental tests, a cable lifetime model will be developed. You will be based in the Power and Energy Division of the EEE School and should possess a PhD in a relevant STEM discipline. You will work within the High Voltage Research Group at UNIMAN and collaborate with scientists and engineers from other partners of the DCDYNAMIC project. In addition to publishing high quality journal articles, you will be working with industry partners such as NKT Cable Group to translate the science into industrial applications.

You will have experience in high voltage engineering and cable insulation systems. You should be able to maintain a high degree of accuracy in your research, and to write and present your work both internally and for wider dissemination.  You should have a PhD in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline and an emergent publication track record.

You will be part of a world-leading team working on development of high voltage DC dynamic cable technology, across the Henry Royce Institute, National Graphene Institute and High Voltage Laboratories.


This post will support the delivery of the iCARE project funded by National Grid. For more information on the work scope, please refer to the link below: 

https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/nia2_nget0063/


What you will get in return:

  • Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
  • Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
  • Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
  • Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
  • Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status.  All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk.

Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Tony Chen

Email: lujia.chen@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: People.recruitment@manchester.ac.uk

Technical support:

https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.



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