05 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The Programme Grant ‘New Directions in Molecular Scattering: Multiple Pathways and Products’, held jointly by Heriot-Watt University and University of Oxford, seeks a new postdoctoral research associate under the supervision of Dr Stuart Greaves.  Based at Heriot-Watt and working alongside the teams of Profs Ken McKendrick and Matt Costen, the post will also involve close collaboration, including research visits, with Profs Mark Brouard, Stuart Mackenzie and Claire Vallance at University of Oxford.  The Programme is an initiative supported by £5.9 M funding from EPSRC.  It aims to dramatically advance the field of molecular collisions, progressing from a core of fundamental, benchmark studies to previously intractable problems that are relevant to real-world applications in the atmosphere, combustion and plasma science, and catalysis.

We are seeking an excellent and motivated postdoctoral research assistant or associate to work on a European CO₂ capture, utilisation, and storage project. This major project aims to develop and pilot novel electrolysis-based CO₂ capture and conversion technologies that will be scaled up and tested at three industrial sites across Europe, bringing the technology to TRL7. The technology development will be complemented by extensive supply chain and network optimisation, process model development and simulation, and techno-economic, life cycle, and societal analysis. The PDRA will work internationally with project partners, for example, to: 1) develop technology models in, e.g., Matlab and Aspen Plus for a solvent-based capture technology coupled with electrochemical regeneration; and/or 2) perform simulations to steer pilot plant design and further technology scale up; and/or 3) undertake techno-economic analysis of the capture and conversion technologies applied to industrial plants; and/or 4) undertake laboratory testing of CO₂ capture solvents, in particular their interaction with flue gas contaminants.

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic postdoctoral research associate to work on our greenhouse gas removal research. This post is part of a large consortium project to explore the feasibility of enhanced weathering. The PDRA will work with project partners to make fundamental insights into the feasibility of a novel method to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Particularly, the postholder will dissolution/weathering of artificial materials (e.g., cement, steel slag), their potential environmental benefits and/or impacts if used for enhanced weathering, and their potential to contribute to UK Net-Zero strategies. We are particularly looking for candidates with experience in chemical weathering experiments, mineral material characterisation, or plant growth experiments. There are also opportunities to participate in our other projects in CO₂ capture, utilisation and storage, and negative emission technologies (https://rccs.hw.ac.uk).

The Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering (IGE) which is based within the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, was established in 1975 to satisfy the oil industry’s growing requirement for professional petroleum engineers. Over 40 years later, it is now recognised internationally as a leading centre of excellence in petroleum engineering and petroleum geoscience teaching, training and research with strong links to industry world-wide. IPE has strong and vibrant community of over 100 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers and undertakes wide-ranging and integrated research into oil and gas exploration, development and production, as well as into wider energy issues. Current key research themes include carbon capture and storage, enhanced oil recovery, gas hydrates and uncertainty quantification. In addition, the Institute has developed a successful programme of continuing professional development courses through which quality training is delivered to professionals who wish to broaden their skills or deepen their subject knowledge. Further information can be obtained at:

The Edinburgh Time-Lapse Project (ETLP) is a mature, UK-based, university research consortium with two decades of experience in the field of quantitative interpretation of 4D seismic data. Our particular specialisation is the integration of reservoir engineering and time-lapsed seismic data at an in-depth and at a practical level that is relatively unique to academia. To maintain our practical, data-centric perspective, a key driver in ETLP research is the data donated from our sponsors. Our portfolio covers clastic, chalk and hard-rock carbonate fields from the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Campos Basin, West Coast Africa, North America, and Gulf of Mexico. ETLP sits inside the Geophysical Monitoring group whose broad remit is to monitor dynamic subsurface processes for the O&G industry and also for environmental aims.