Research Fellow, SHIFTIN Project

Job Description

Research Fellow, SHIFTIN Project: Grade: 7

Department: Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction (BSSC): Location: 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB

Reports to

Principal Investigator

Context

The Bartlett Faculty

We are The Bartlett, UCL’s global faculty of the built environment. Individually, our schools and sections lead their fields. In partnership, they develop new responses to pressing world issues. As a whole, they represent a world-leading, multidisciplinary faculty, united by the radical spirit of UCL. Our vision is of a world where everything that’s built aims to add to the well-being of people and the environment.

The Bartlett is unrivalled in its breadth and depth of disciplines, programmes and departments. It is made up 12 Schools, Centres and Institutes, providing teaching and research in a wide range of subject areas to over 4,000 students each year from across the world.

In the Research Excellence Framework 2021, the Bartlett was recognised as the faculty where the UK’s most ‘World Leading’ and ‘Internationally Excellent’ built environment research is undertaken. 91% of research was deemed ‘World Leading’ and ‘Internationally Excellent’. Overall, the Bartlett is number one for Research Power in the built environment field.

Further information

Further information about the Faculty can be found here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/

The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction

The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction is one of the world’s leading academic centres of excellence in the management of projects, infrastructure delivery, construction and infrastructure economics and finance, real estate and urban economics, digital transformations in facilities and built asset management, and sustainable and data-driven change in the construction industry and its supply chains. Its mission is to have successful students, outstanding outputs and sustainable transformation, by:

•delivering research-informed teaching on leading theories and practice

•performing research which is useful to practitioners and is valued by scholars

•advising on issues and delivering solutions to government and industry which improve performance The School has around 700 students and over 100 staff members. Staff have strong international links with other leading global universities, and strategic relationships with relevant parts of government, key organisations in specific fields and major companies, in and beyond construction and infrastructure.

Research covers programme, portfolio management and firms; construction and technology management; infrastructure finance and the economics of the built environment. Climate change, infrastructure delivery, and digitisation are all growth areas.

Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are consistently informed by research, and cover all areas of project management and construction management, with a particular focus on economics and finance, infrastructure, and more recently, a strong and growing research and teaching strand on digital innovation. Several students have won international awards for work done as part of their programmes, not least the prestigious Bouygues Defi award and the CIOB International undergraduate dissertation competition.

More information about the School can be found here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/construction/ The Race and Spatial Justice Positive Action Recruitment Focus invites researchers and educators from diverse fields and geographies to join the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment community. The Bartlett is committed to equal opportunities, and to be fair and inclusive in our recruitment as an institution.

The Bartlett’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy aims to increase the ethnic diversity of its staff, and in particular to increase the numbers of Black, and Minority Ethnic applicants throughout the recruitment process. Under S.159 of the Equality Act 2010, Black and Minority Ethnic applicants who meet all the essential criteria will be automatically granted an interview in line with UCL positive action and inclusive recruitment practices.

Race and Spatial Justice Positive Action Recruitment Focus | The Bartlett - UCL – University College London

Main purpose of the job

The Research Fellow will support the delivery of the SHIFTIN project by undertaking research on circular reconstruction, sustainable construction materials and resilient transport infrastructure. The role will connect circular reconstruction and material innovation to systems-level resilience and whole-life decision-making, including complex systems analysis, systems-of-systems modelling, and the development, assessment and validation of modular structural components using recycled aggregates derived from war-damaged construction materials.

Working closely with the UCL Principal Investigator and the international SHIFTIN consortium, the postholder will contribute to material and component development, structural and durability assessment, systems-level resilience and life-cycle analysis, infrastructure interdependencies and cascading effects, climate and multi-hazard stress testing, Digital Twin- and AI-enabled decision support, geospatial/GIS analysis, implementation of the Ukrainian demonstration, policy and procurement recommendations, and stakeholder engagement and co-design, and training and capacity-building activities. This post is one-year fixed term full-time.

Duties and responsibilities

Research and project delivery: provide scientific, technical and organisational support to the UCL Principal Investigator and contribute to the timely delivery of UCL tasks, milestones, project meetings, reports and Horizon Europe deliverables.

Circular materials and component development: contribute to the characterisation of recycled war-rubble aggregates, optimisation of low-carbon aggregate–binder formulations, design of modular railway communication ducts, and laboratory and prototype testing for strength, durability, weather resistance and compliance with relevant railway requirements.

Infrastructure resilience and life-cycle assessment: develop and apply methods to assess structural performance, deterioration, service life, resilience, circularity and environmental performance, and support the integration of monitoring and Digital Twin outputs into maintenance and asset-management decisions. Apply complex systems and systems-of-systems methods to assess interdependencies, cascading effects and network resilience under climate and multi-hazard scenarios; contribute to Digital Twin-based stress testing using uncertainty analysis, surrogate/AI and agent-based modelling, and link results to LCA/LCC, circularity and maintenance decisions.

Demonstration and validation: support the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the North Sea–Baltic Corridor demonstration in Ukraine, working with project partners, transport authorities and practitioners to validate technical performance, constructability, installation efficiency and life-cycle benefits. Use geospatial/GIS and spatial decision-support methods where appropriate to integrate site, network, monitoring and environmental data and assess low-carbon, circular, nature-based/nature-positive and biodiversity outcomes.

Policy, standards and procurement: contribute to the mapping of relevant standards and procurement practices and to the preparation of UCL-led policy and regulatory recommendations for circular, resilient and biodiversity-friendly transport infrastructure, with particular attention to reconstruction contexts such as Ukraine. Translate quantitative evidence and stakeholder priorities into transparent, participatory and performance-based policy and procurement frameworks.

Training, stakeholder engagement and replication: contribute to stakeholder workshops, cross-pilot lessons learnt and replication activities, and develop and deliver web-based and in-person training for engineers, small and medium-sized enterprises, infrastructure managers and other practitioners. Use participatory methods to capture practitioner and community needs for technical, policy and decision-support outputs.

Research outputs and dissemination: produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications, conference contributions, technical reports, research data and dissemination materials, and communicate SHIFTIN findings to academic, industry, policy and practitioner audiences. Contribute to follow-on research on cognitive infrastructure and digital-physical-social infrastructure interactions where aligned with SHIFTIN’s Digital Twin, AI, resilience and stakeholder work.

General

Follow and actively promote the UCL Ways of Working.

The post holder will actively follow UCL policies including Equal Opportunities policies and be expected to give consideration within their role as to how they can actively advance equality of opportunity and good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Takes responsibility to carry out duties in a way that embodies UCL's environmental and social sustainability values, actively supporting UCL's Sustainability Strategy, policies and objectives within the remit of their role.

The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager.

This job description may be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder.

Person Specification

Note to job applicant: copy and paste the following criteria into your “Statement in support of your application” and describe underneath each criteria how you meet it, giving examples. You will be scored on how you meet each criteria.

Essential Criteria: Assessment method (Application form/ Interview / Practical Test)

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

A PhD in civil engineering, structural engineering, materials engineering, transport infrastructure engineering or a closely related discipline.: Application /

Skills and abilities

1.Strong understanding of circular and low-carbon construction, sustainable transport infrastructure and the principles of infrastructure resilience and whole-life performance, including systems-level interdependencies, climate adaptation and multi-hazard risk.: Application /

• Experience of undertaking experimental or computational research on construction materials, recycled aggregates, structural components or transport infrastructure, complex infrastructure systems or networks, Digital Twins, or closely related areas.: Application /
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to analyse complex experimental, monitoring or infrastructure-performance data using appropriate computational, systems/network, geospatial/GIS, uncertainty, AI or data-management methods.: Application /
• Evidence of producing high-quality research outputs, such as peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, project deliverables or equivalent, and the ability to communicate complex research clearly and accurately in writing for academic, technical, policy and project audiences.:
• Strong organisational skills, including the ability to plan research activities, coordinate contributions, manage priorities and deliver high-quality outputs to agreed deadlines. Experience of supporting or contributing to collaborative research projects or European Union-funded research programmes.: Application /
• Strong organisational skills, including the ability to plan research activities, coordinate contributions, manage priorities and deliver high-quality outputs to agreed deadlines, and experience of supporting or contributing to collaborative research projects or European Union-funded research programmes.:
• Ability to switch effectively between research, technical development, demonstration, policy, training and stakeholder-engagement activities, and to document and share evidence, methods and solutions clearly while understanding how individual responsibilities contribute to wider project objectives and plans.:

UCL Ways of Working

Switching easily between tasks for different groups and stakeholders: Interview Documenting and sharing solutions: Interview Knowing how individual objectives and responsibilities will deliver on plans:

Desirable Criteria: Assessment method (Application form/ Interview / Practical Test) Experience of contributing to collaborative European or international research projects or working with construction companies, transport authorities, infrastructure operators or public-sector organisations.: Application / Interview Expertise in one or more of: infrastructure systems modelling, climate resilience, digital twins, geospatial analysis, artificial intelligence-enabled modelling and decision support, or professional training and capacity building.: Application /