Research Assistant/Associate in Biomedical Microsystem Design, Newcastle upon Tyne

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Research Assistant/Associate in Biomedical Microsystem Design, Newcastle upon Tyne

Client:

Newcastle University

Location:

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

EU work permit required:

Yes

Job Reference:

d47ec4f4e6a1

Job Views:

7

Posted:

20.02.2025

Expiry Date:

06.04.2025

Job Description:

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 17 March 2025

The Role

The School of Engineering /EEE Discipline are looking to appoint a Research Assistant or Research Associate in Biomedical Microsystem Design. This role will contribute to an exciting £2M EPSRC-funded collaborative project between Bath, Sheffield, Newcastle, and Oxford. The objective is to develop a new type of implantable fuel cell that generates power from the body’s own glucose supply. If successful, such a device could operate indefinitely, thus providing power to a new class of therapeutic devices.

All new technologies have challenges to overcome. This position's role is to optimise the engineering of the fuel cell device through advanced modelling and computer-aided design. Advanced designs would be partially fabricated in Newcastle and partially in partner institutions. Other project partners would perform in-vivo testing of the devices.

We are expecting high impact research outcomes. To be successful in this role you will be a talented individual with appropriate mathematical modelling and microsystem CAD skills. With a willingness to learn and develop your technical skillset with the provided support. The primary supervisor will be Prof. Patrick Degenaar.

This position is available on a full time (37 hours per week), fixed term basis for 35 months, to start immediately.

For more information, please feel free to reach out to ([emailprotected]) at the School of Engineering, Newcastle.

Further information on the School of Engineering can be found here.

Our research can be found here.

To apply, please complete an online application and upload a plain text copy of your CV and covering letter only. In your covering letter, you should evidence how you meet or exceed the essential and desirable requirements for the role. Please note, any other ‘Additional Document’ you upload may not be received by the reviewing panel.

Key Accountabilities

The position is work from lab – so the candidate must be willing to spend a normal working week in a research laboratory. As this project is a collaboration with other Universities, the individual should be willing to travel to Bath, Oxford and Sheffield, as well as overseas to present at international conferences.

Technical objectives:

1. Use Finite Element Analysis: (Using COMSOL software) to simulate how to optimise implantable fuel cell architecture.
2. CAD design: Using CAD tools such Autodesk Inventor/Fusion to determine 3D designs which can subsequently be fabricated using advanced machining tools.
3. Laser Machining and assembly: Using advanced femtosecond machining approaches to create micro-devices and components and then determine an engineering process for their 3D assembly.
4. Testing and validation: Working with teams in Sheffield, Oxford and Bath to test the devices.

Additional objectives:

1. Team leadership: The post-holder is expected to provide guidance and support in their expertise to fellow staff and PhD/MSc/undergraduate students. This includes sharing knowledge, providing guidance and supporting research culture activities such as journal clubs.
2. Lab Maintenance: Everyone in the Neuroprosthesis lab is expected to help with lab, equipment and IT maintenance, including periodic cleaning, reporting faults when found, and being open and honest in the cases of accidents, and helping order new components.
3. Generate and submit papers: to high impact journals such as Nature Communications, Journal of Neural Engineering, and IEEE Transactions of Biomedical Engineering.
4. Present work: at leading international conferences such as IEEE EMBC, IEEE BioCAS, and IEEE NER.
5. Generate intellectual property: both in the forms of hard patents and in soft designs and software.
6. Regular documentation: is required to take this project through the regulatory framework to clinical practice, thus proper and detailed documentation is essential. This includes crosslinking specifications to particular files and designs on a version control system.
7. Continuing development: The postholder is expected to regularly update his/her skills through attending courses, both online and in person. Also, to take the initiative with their own career development – e.g. for fellowship applications. These activities will be supported by Prof. Patrick Degenaar.

The Person

The candidate will be a dynamic individual who is able to work with others in a team and contribute to the research culture around him/her. They should be able to inspire those around them and to support a vibrant research culture within the lab and wider research group. E.g. contributing to journal clubs and helping manage lab maintenance. The candidate should also be courteous at all times with the supervisor and other members of the team.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of modern computational tools such as MATLAB or Python
• Strong mathematical skills
• Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills
• Likelihood of advanced skills directly related to the research projects
• High level of analytical and problem-solving capability
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and to encourage the commitment of others
• Experience of research with clear transferable skills and some experience or awareness of the research environment
• Presentations at conferences and/or high-quality publications
• Knowledge of Engineering and CAD design
• Knowledge of modelling tools such as finite element analysis
• Knowledge of fuel cells, microsystems and/or MEMS
• Knowledge of electronic circuits
• Experience of working within interdisciplinary biomedical teams

Attributes and Behaviour

• Proficiency in the English Language and being able to present themselves in a manner which can be understood by others from different disciplines
• An ability to work closely with team members and collaborators from different disciplines
• An ability to document work using common tools such as Excel, and Word
• Experience in presentations at international academic or industrial conferences
• A history of publishing papers in good journals or patent submissions

Qualifications

• An Honours degree or equivalent in Engineering, Physics or similar subject
• PhD in Engineering, Physics or a similar subject (Research Associate)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.