Salary range: £36,024 - £44,263 per annum
FTE: 1 (35 hours per week)
Term: Fixed (24 months)
Closing date: Friday, 26 January 2024
The Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) within the Faculty of Engineering is seeking to recruit a Research Associate to join a collaborative industry-led research project on Nuclear Fuel-debris Characterisation via Multimodal Spectroscopy and Analytics (NuFAMSA).
The NuFAMSA research project aims to determine whether the combined spatial and spectral information proffered by hyperspectral imaging sensors can be used to robustly detect and characterise nuclear fuel debris in a challenging and harsh environment such as the affected nuclear reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi. This project is a collaboration between the University of Strathclyde, Lancaster University and the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) at the UK, and the Osaka University, NFD and Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in Japan.
This role is part of a significant investment made in this project by EPSRC, with this appointment being based at the University of Strathclyde and including potential secondments in Japan. It concerns the role of Research Associate that will focus on the signal & image processing and hyperspectral imaging for nuclear fuel-debris characterisation.
Research objectives are:
O1. The acquisition and analysis of hyperspectral image (HSI) data derived from sample materials for nuclear fuel-debris detection and characterisation using reliable ground truth information, leading to spectral libraries which will be harnessed to design, train and evaluate novel data analysis methods to identify and characterise nuclear fuel debris.
O2. To research and develop innovative methods for analysing HSI data automatically such that a spatial maps can be created to show areas of interest, i.e., those likely to contain fuel-debris. State-of-the art AI based approaches will be designed.
O3. To research new methods to analyse LIBS, γ-spectroscopy, neutron spectroscopy data and new methods to perform data fusion with HSI.
You will be joining the highly-regarded and dedicated research group of engineers and scientists, led by Dr Paul Murray (University of Strathclyde) and Prof Malcolm Joyce (Lancaster University), working in a well-equipped, laboratory-based research environment.
To be considered for the role, you will be educated to a minimum of PhD level in an appropriate discipline, or have significant relevant experience in addition to a relevant degree. You will have sufficient breadth or depth of knowledge in signal & image processing, hyperspectral imaging data acquisition and processing, computer vision and machine learning/AI with excellent programming experience (MATLAB, Python, etc.) and a developing ability to conduct individual research work, to disseminate results and to prepare research proposals. You will have an ability to plan and organise your own workload effectively and an ability to work within a team environment. You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to listen, engage and persuade, and to present complex information in an accessible way to a range of audiences.
The Research Associate will be required to travel for technical meetings, experiments (data acquisition) and demonstrations within the UK on a regular basis and, therefore, applicants must be willing and able to travel. Applications from candidates with a valid UK driving licence and with their own vehicle are desirable. The position is based at Glasgow city centre. The role will also require the successful applicant to travel to and from Japan for an extended period at least once during the project.
Whilst not essential for the role, applications are welcomed from candidates with: relevant work experience, membership of relevant Chartered/professional bodies (including the Higher Education Academy), experience of relevant student supervision and teaching activities, and/or experience of knowledge exchange related activities.
Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Dr Paul Murray, Reader, Electronic & Electrical Engineering (paul.murray@strath.ac.uk / 01415482527).