3 Postdoctoral Fellowships at University of Leeds

1. Research Fellow in Atmospheric Boundary Layer Modelling

Are you an ambitious researcher with a passion for the weather? Do you want to further your career as part of a large and dynamic research group in climate and atmospheric science, working in collaboration with the Met Office?

UMBRELLA (UM Boundary Layer Representation with Land-Atmosphere Interactions) is a project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council as part of the directed programme on "Improving model representation of turbulent atmospheric processes" joint with the Met Office. The overarching aim of the programme is to improve the representation of turbulent processes in the next generation of km and sub-km scale weather and climate models. Within the programme UMBRELLA will:Evaluate the boundary layer representation in the Met Office Unified Model (UM) across a range of grid spacings needed for km and sub-km scale modelling;

Provide the underpinning science on which BL structures initiate moist convection and how this is affected by surface variability, informing parametrisation development;

Exploit new observations, including from the Wescon field campaign taking place in summer 2023 over SW England and from the new Meteosat Third Generation satellite.

The post-holder will work closely with other members of the project team at the Universities of Leeds and Reading and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, as well as with other projects funded within the programme and with the Met Office. This post will focus primarily on the effects of surface variability on the boundary layer and on the coupling of the boundary layer to moist convection using both idealised large-eddy simulations as well as case studies with the UM. Observations from Wescon and other field campaigns and long term observations will be used to evaluate the models at various resolutions. As atmospheric models are moving toward the sub-km scale they will begin to resolve large scale boundary structures. This breaks some of the underlying assumptions of boundary layer parametrisations. The aim of this project is to understand the key processes controlling the coupling of the boundary layer and convection over variable surfaces in order to improve parametrisation of both the boundary layer and convection across a range of model resolutions.

  

Based in the Institute of Climate and Atmospheric Science in the School of Earth and Environment you will join a large dynamic research community with internationally recognised expertise in atmospheric dynamics and convection. As one of the founder members of the Met Office Academic Partnership, Leeds has a long-standing and close collaboration with the Met Office and the post-holder will work closely with them to ensure pull-through of the research to operations.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Dr Andrew Ross, Associate Professor in Dynamical Meteorology

Email: A.N.Ross@leeds.ac.uk

Location: Leeds - Main Campus

Faculty/Service: Faculty of Environment

School/Institute: School of Earth and Environment

Section: Institute of Atmospheric Science (ICAS)

Category: Research

Grade: Grade 7

Salary: £36,333 to £43,155 per annum

Post Type: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed Term (until 31 May 2026 due to external funding)

Release Date: Friday 02 June 2023

Closing Date: Friday 23 June 2023

Reference: ENVEE1659

Downloads: Candidate Brief

Apply Online

2. Research Fellow in Palaeobiology

Are you an ambitious researcher with skills in palaeobiology or palaeoecology, and looking for your next challenge? Do you want to be part of a large, cutting-edge palaeobiological research programme? Do you want to further you career in one of the UK’s leading research intensive Universities?

We are looking for a Research Fellow with experience in palaeobiology and palaeoecology who will play a pivotal role in our UK Natural Environmental Research Council/US National Science Foundation funded project “CASCaDE: Community And Structural Collapse During Mass Extinctions”. You will work with a large international cross-disciplinary research team to combine palaeontological data with cutting-edge advances in ecological theory to gain a holistic understanding of marine extinction dynamics linked to rapid climate change and mass extinction in the fossil record.

Working as a palaeobiologist you will build a database of fossil communities and model food web structure across a number of major climatic and extinction events throughout the Phanerozoic. You will undertake database building and curation as well as model implementation and lead associated research publications.

You will have experience in taxonomic and functional palaeoecology and knowledge of Phanerozoic macroevolutionary events and some experience of undertaking quantitative analyses in R. You will show a strong commitment to publishing scientific results at an international level.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Dr Alex Dunhill, Associate Professor of Palaeobiology

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 1288

Email: a.dunhill@leeds.ac.uk

Location: Leeds - Main Campus

Faculty/Service: Faculty of Environment

School/Institute: School of Earth and Environment

Section: Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI)

Category: Research

Grade: Grade 7

Salary: £36,333 to £43,155 per annum

Working Time: 100% - We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements.

Post Type: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed Term (for 36 months due to external funding)

Release Date: Friday 02 June 2023

Closing Date: Friday 23 June 2023

Reference: ENVEE1660

Downloads: Candidate Brief

Apply Online

3. Research Fellow in Phage Display

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have an established background in phage display and isolation of Affimer reagents? Do you want to further your career in one of the UKs leading research intensive Universities?

Antimicrobial resistance represents a global challenge that requires a paradigm shift in healthcare to resolve. Antibiotics are becoming less effective due to increased resistance associated with their overuse and mis-prescription. There is a demand not only to develop new antimicrobial compounds but to improve diagnosis and prescribe only as required, and specific to the pathogen.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common types of infections and are a significant cause of mortality, especially among the elderly population. Many patients are in care home settings or have poor mobility and hence the ability to undertake and remote test, and report the results directly to the patient record would represent a significant advance for infection diagnosis and treatment. This position is part of a multidisciplinary team to develop lateral flow devices for multiplex detection of UTIs. It will involve developing phage display methods to isolate Affimer reagents against different microbes that cause UTIs, develop devices and clinically validate the devices.

For this role, you should have a PhD (or close to completion) in development of phage display methods and isolation of Affimer reagents. You should also have experience in production of recombinant proteins and Affimer reagents, development of phage display protocols, characterising Affimer reagents in a range of binding assays, general molecular biology skills and a good analytical ability.

The University of Leeds and the Faculty of Biological Sciences are committed to providing equal opportunities for all and offer a range of family friendly policies. The University is a charter member of Athena SWAN (the national body that promotes gender equality in higher education), and the Faculty of Biological Sciences was awarded a Silver award in 2020. We are proud to be an inclusive Faculty that values all staff, and are happy to consider job share applications and requests for flexible working arrangements from our employees. Our Athena SWAN webpage provides more information.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Dr Darren Tomlinson

Tel: +44 (0)113 3437099 | Email: d.c.tomlinson@leeds.ac.uk

Location: Leeds - Main Campus

Faculty/Service: Faculty of Biological Sciences

School/Institute: School of Molecular & Cellular Biology

Category: Research

Grade: Grade 7

Salary: £36,333 to £43,155 p.a.

Working Time: 100%

Post Type: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed Term (for 3 years due to external funding)

Release Date: Friday 02 June 2023

Closing Date: Friday 09 June 2023

Reference: FBSMB1257

Downloads: Candidate Brief

Apply Online