Job Description

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Grade 7 or 8 (\xc2\xa333,309 - \xc2\xa350,296 depending on Experience)

Fixed Term to 31/8/24

Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and leading edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business, and industry.

Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business, and languages. Heriot-Watt is also Scotland\'s most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.

The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (SRF) is a rapidly expanding world-class research team, based on a collaborative partnership with the University of Cambridge and the University of Westminster, with a wide-ranging and engaged group of more than twenty industrial partners and international partners in China, India, Rwanda, and South Africa. Over the last seven years it has developed an international reputation for using large-scale high-fidelity computer models to understand how logistics might be organised differently. The first 5-year programme, conducted by the same team, demonstrated that radical measures are necessary to hit the UK Government\'s CO2 reduction targets. It also showed how essential it is to integrate among logistics solutions, vehicle technology, and policy initiatives.

The urgent need for decarbonisation brings an exciting set of complex challenges demanding creative multi-disciplinary approaches. The team is leading developments in agent-based modelling, operational research and data analytics for sustainable logistics and energy transitions with an extensive and rapidly growing portfolio of projects funded by EPSRC, Industry, Innovate UK, and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). We seek to recruit Research Associates to join the strong and mutually supportive international research team to meet the growing industry demand for our expertise.

Detailed Description

The Research Associate post offers the successful candidate an outstanding opportunity to develop their research career by engaging with a close-knit international community of researchers on a range of challenging and well-funded research projects.

The successful candidate will be working with the respective project lead on a day-to-day basis and ultimately report to the Principal Investigator, Prof Philip Greening. They will be responsible for the maintenance and development of the MILES software, which is the Centre\'s in-house suite of logistics analysis and modelling tools, and comprises algorithms relating to local delivery optimisation, electric vehicle charging, decarbonised heavy-goods vehicle (HGV) logistics, self-organising supply chain logistics models for vaccine distribution, among other capabilities.

The successful candidate will lead the ongoing initiative to promote MILES to the wider SRF team as a modelling platform, helping to increase its versatility and wider adoption by developing its in-house capability as well as integrating existing algorithms within the team from other platforms into the MILES framework. This will help the SRF team to leverage the benefits of a shared library of logistics demand and infrastructure objects to develop a tool with a generalised self-organisational ability that can apply to a wide range of scenarios.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The post holder is required to:

Develop and maintain the MILES software and continuously improve its capabilities

Engage in mathematical algorithm design to solve problems related to current and emergent projects and initiatives in decarbonising freight and logistics operations, and implementing these within the MILES framework

Develop the capability within the wider SRF team to perform analyses with MILES and increase awareness of its capabilities, including maintaining clear documentation

Maintain the graphical user interface (GUI) capabilities within MILES and liaise with colleagues specialising in digital twin visualisation of the SRF team\'s research to ensure the initiatives are closely aligned

Maintain and promote the use of SRF\'s data servers to retrieve and analyse logistics data

Provide regular updates and progress reports to the project team, analysing and presenting findings in a professional manner

Exercise the MILES software to develop novel research findings and generate academic output associated with the research activity

Integrate research into the broader logistics research carried out by the team

Work closely with other members of the research centre and project partners

Contribute, under supervision, to the planning of research projects

Contribute to outreach activities

Education, Qualifications and Experience

Essential Criteria

Either a PhD in a related subject (mathematics, operations research, data science), or a willingness to undertake such a PhD as a requirement alongside research work

Previous experience with development of software solutions

Good analytical problem-solving skills

Energy and enthusiasm for the research area of applications of analytical modelling software for logistics and transportation

Experience of work environment: Experience of working in a multi-cultural work environment; ability to work as part of a team; ability to present work effectively in person, e.g. in a team, or with a wider network

Evidence of research ability to proactively find solutions and develop approaches to complex problems, regularly presenting findings and issues to your peers for appraisal

Presentation and communication skills and ability to articulate research work by oral presentation; experience in public presentations of scientific results (e.g. conferences)

Desired Criteria

Completed PhD in a related subject

Good knowledge of object-oriented programming, especially Java

Basic knowledge of Git version control, Maven, Eclipse IDE, Microsoft Azure

Publication track record in mathematical modelling or data analysis

Please send an updated CV & Cover Letter by midnight on Thursday 13th July

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers .

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g.; part-time working and job share options.

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