Job Description
Position Details
School of Engineering
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £47,389 to £56,535 with potential progression once in post to £63,606
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £58,225 to £67,468 with potential progression once in post to £87,974
Grade: 8 or 9
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 6th January 2026
Background
This is an exceptional moment to join the University of Birmingham and help shape a frontier area of research. Our School of Engineering is entering a new phase of growth and strategic investment with a bold vision for interdisciplinary impact in space, resilience, and advanced modelling.
SERENE (Space Environment & Radio Engineering) is a research group within the Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering (EESE), dedicated to understanding, modelling, forecasting, and mitigating the effects of the near-Earth space environment, and translating those insights into applications for navigation, communications, satellite operations, and infrastructure resilience. Our work spans ionospheric/thermospheric science, radio propagation, data assimilation, HF radar, and advanced computational methods to support space weather forecasting and engineering solutions. In REF 2021 and beyond, Engineering at Birmingham is ranked among the UK's top departments, and our plans include continued investment in people, computation, facilities, and strategic partnerships to lead nationally and globally in space & resilience engineering.
We are seeking to appoint a highly motivated, research-strong academic to join SERENE and EESE. We welcome applicants whose expertise intersects one or more of the following priority themes (non-exhaustive, and we are open to adjacent areas that can interface with SERENE's mission):
* AI/ML & Data-Centric Space Environment Modelling
o Machine learning, deep learning, Bayesian methods, or hybrid physics-ML models for forecasting and nowcasting of ionospheric/thermospheric parameters (e.g. electron density, neutral density, electric fields, plasma irregularities)
o Data assimilation, sensor fusion, time-series modelling, uncertainty quantification, and probabilistic forecasting in the space domain
o Self-learning or adaptive models in response to evolving solar and geomagnetic conditions
o Explainable ML for traceable, robust predictions in space weather applications
* Ionospheric & Scintillation Modelling (Local & Global Scales)
o Physics-based, empirical, and hybrid modelling of ionospheric irregularities and small-scale structures
o Predictive models of scintillation and signal degradation for GNSS, satellite-ground links and HF (high frequency) radio
o Multiscale coupling between large-scale ionospheric structure and small-scale turbulence / irregularities
o Improvement of spatial/temporal resolution, regional/latitude-dependence, and cross-validation with observations
You will be expected to:
* Lead internationally significant research and publish in top-tier journals and conferences
* Develop new research directions and secure external funding
* Contribute to teaching across undergraduate, postgraduate taught, and professional development programmes (e.g. courses in digital electronics, engineering AI applications, signal propagation, ML for physical systems, mathematics, space weather, etc.)
* Participate in service, administration, leadership within the SERENE group, the EESE Department, the School of Engineering, and the University
* Forge and maintain external partnerships (industry, government agencies, space agencies, national centres)
Experience in collaborating with space weather/engineering users or stakeholders is advantageous. Proven skills in software development, HPC, data pipelines, and code reliability are strongly valued.
The University of Birmingham is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and strongly encourages applications from under-represented groups.
Role Summary
The role holder will be based in Edgbaston. The key duties and responsibilities will include but not be limited to: giving lectures and seminars and supervising undergraduate / post-graduate students, course development and innovation, taking an active part in examinations, carrying out innovative research and writing papers on topics relevant to the specialist subject area (this will include journals, books and other material), and obtaining research grant funding.
The successful applicant will have a PhD in a relevant specialist subject area, as well as postdoctoral experience. We are looking for candidates who will actively contribute to our portfolio and community, through pursuit of research that will bring new opportunities, synergies, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The successful candidate will also have a track record in teaching at a higher education institution.
Appointments will be made at either an Assistant Professor or Associate Professor level please specify which role you are applying for in the application
To download the full job description please click here:
Grade 8
Grade 9
Informal enquiries to Theodoros Arvanitis, email: t.arvanitis@bham.ac.uk and Professor Sean Elvidge, Email: s.elvidge@bham.ac.uk
The University of Birmingham is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and strongly encourages applications from under-represented groups. We are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.
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