Job description

Job summary

Across the range of proposed technological strategies for CO₂ reduction - either at source or via post-combustion mitigation - limitations in efficiency, stability or lifetime are associated with the role of key material interfaces in the systems, and their evolution in the operating environments. Such examples can be taken from a range of systems, from carbon capture and subsurface storage, through interfaces in new electric vehicles to nanoscale materials for catalysts or energy recovery.

The purpose of this post will be to use either or both experimental and numerical modelling techniques to investigate physical processes occurring at spatial scales from .01 – 1 mm (e.g., in the pores of rocks, at mineral fluid interfaces) underpinning the permanent storage of CO₂in geological materials.  These processes include the fluid dynamics of CO₂flow and trapping in the pores of rocks, the reaction rates and limitations to CO₂mineralisation, the dissolution of CO₂into brine confined within the pores of rocks. There is significant flexibility within this scope for the ultimate definition of the specific problems investigated, and this is left to be tailored to your interests and background.

This post is a part of a 5-year EPSRC funded Prosperity Partnership between Imperial, Diamond and Shell, which aims to increase our fundamental understanding of interface behaviours through a cross-cutting approach studying morphology, structure and chemistry from the atomic to the macroscale, and their dynamic evolution under a range of extreme operational parameters.

You will be a part of the Subsurface CO₂Research Group in the Department of Earth  Science & Engineering at Imperial College London, led by Dr Samuel Krevor. As a part of the InFUSE and Shell Digital Rocks projects, the researcher will be a part of a large cohort of 20-30 researchers between the departments of Earth Science & Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering.

Duties and responsibilities

Research Duties:

• Lead research investigating the physical processes occurring at spatial scales from .01 – 1 mm (e.g., in the pores of rocks, at mineral-fluid interfaces) underpinning the permanent storage of CO₂in geological materials. 
• Prepare and deliver presentations at the annual meetings of the INFUSE project, as well as ad-hoc meetings that occur throughout the year

Other Duties:

• Support basic administrative tasks for the Subsurface CO2 Research group such as the chairing of weekly research group meetings and support the organisation of twice per year social and team-building events 
• Publish work in peer reviewed journals and present at academic conferences 

Essential requirements

You should have completed or be about to obtain a PhD, or equivalent, in Earth Science, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Applied Mathematics or a closely related discipline, or have equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience.

You should have skills in computational modelling or experimental research in subsurface fluid flow, or fluid-rock mineral reactions, or fluid dynamics, or related fields.

A full list of essential requirements can be found on the Job Description.

Further information

This is a full time, fixed term position for 2 years. You will be based at South Kensington Campus. 

You will be working in the Subsurface CO₂Research Group in the Department of Earth Science & Engineering at Imperial College London, led by Dr Samuel Krevor. As a part of the InFUSE and Shell Digital Rocks projects, the you will also be a part of a large cohort of 20-30 researchers between the departments of Earth Science & Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. There are weekly and bimonthly seminars and meetings amongst these cohorts ensuring that you are working in a collaborative team environment with many opportunities to participate in research across the university.

The Department of Earth Science & Engineering is a friendly and nurturing department that combines teaching and research in Earth Sciences with related Engineering disciplines. The topics we are interested in reach from blue sky Earth Science (e.g. Earth interior, surface, and its place within the solar system), to integration with related subsurface energy, environmental, mining and minerals Engineering. Overall we employ ~50 academic staff members, ~70 postdoctoral research scientists, ~170 PhD students, ~145 MSc students, and ~300 undergraduate students. 

Informal inquiries about the position can be made to Dr Samuel Krevor (s.krevor@imperial.ac.uk).

The College is currently trialling a Work Location Framework until early 2023.  Hybrid working may be considered for this role and the role holder may be expected to work 60% or more of their time onsite, with 40% the minimum time spent onsite.  The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes which are ultimately aimed towards finding new treatments and making scientific and medical advances, and where there are no satisfactory or reasonably practical alternatives to their use. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. Find out more about animal research at Imperial.

Documents

• Job Description Research Associate ENG02526.pdf