Senior Research Associate

Senior Research Associate (Level

B)

The School of Materials Science and Engineering is one of the top ranked Materials programs in the Asia-Pacific regions and strongly positioned in every facet of materials science and engineering. It offers undergraduate programmes in Materials Science and Engineering (Honours), as well as a number of combined degree programmes with Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Commerce.

The Senior Research Associate (Level

B) is expected to carry out independent and/or team research within the Physical Metallurgy Laboratories in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney and to carry out activities to develop their research expertise relevant to the field of high entropy brasses and bronzes.

• $127K - $150K plus 17% superannuation and annual leave loading
• Fixed Term – 12 months
• Full-time (35 hours per week)

The role reports to Associate Professor Kevin Laws and has no direct reports.

• Contribute independently or as a team member in collaborative industry-based research with a focus on the design, development and commercial application of advanced high entropy brasses and bronzes, particularly for plumbing or dual-use free-machining applications.
• Carry out independent and joint fundamental and applied metallurgical research on the commercial development and processing of high entropy brasses and bronzes.
• Create scholarly impact in the discipline which is recognised by peers in the advancement of disciplinary knowledge.
• Conduct research/scholarly activities under limited supervision, either independently or as a member of a team (as per the norms of the discipline).
• Establish a personal research portfolio and start developing independent research proposals.
• Contribute to the development of applications for competitive funding under the guidance of senior colleagues.
• Participate as co-investigator or chief investigator in competitive grant applications, or show evidence of active participation in research collaborations funded by competitive grants.
• Design related research activities on commercialisation outcomes for high entropy brasses and bronzes for the plumbing sector and/or ancillary/alternative dual-use technologies for free-machining applications.
• Mentor and guide students and colleagues and develop the next generation of academics through involvement in supervision of HDRs (as per the norms of the discipline).
• Assist with programme/project management, the operation and maintenance of the relevant laboratories.
• Engage appropriately, independently or as a team member with industry/commercial project partners in establishing their research requirements and project/process trouble-shooting.
• Align with and actively demonstrate the Code of Conduct and Values.
• Cooperate with all health and safety policies and procedures of the university and take all reasonable care to ensure that your actions or omissions do not impact on the health and safety of yourself or others.

To be successful in this role you will have:

• A PhD in physical metallurgy or a related discipline, and relevant postdoctoral work experience in the areas of alloy design, development and processing, preferably in the field of high entropy alloys.
• Experience in lab-based metal processing technologies including alloy charge preparation, induction melting/alloying, arc-furnace melting, casting, and thermo-mechanical processing.
• Experience in lab-based metals sample preparation and characterisation methods such as general optical/electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, harness/tensile/mechanical testing.
• Proven commitment to proactively keeping up to date with discipline knowledge and developments.
• Demonstrated track record in research with outcomes of high quality and high impact with clear evidence of the desire and ability to continually achieve research excellence as well as the capacity for research leadership.
• A track record of significant involvement with the profession and/or industry.
• High level communication skills and ability to network effectively and interact with a diverse range of students and staff.
• Demonstrated…