Senior Research Associate in Vehicle-Grid Integration Modelling

Salary: £48,337 to £51,258 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 3 November 2026

The Role

Project SUITE introduces disruptive, vehicle integrated innovations that unlock strategic benefits for customers and the broader energy system, matching the Innovation stream of Innovate UK’s DRIVE35 programme. Through cross sector collaboration with UK experts from industry and academia, project SUITE will explore the design and development of Integrated Energy Technologies for Zero Emission Vehicles.

Newcastle University will build on Nissan's vehicle-to-grid (V2G) machine learning model, to accurately forecast EV flexible capacity, allowing for system level innovation by incorporating EVs as essential balancing assets into the UK energy grid. The post holder will lead the technical contributions to the tasks associated with this activity as well as assisting with the management and coordination of Newcastle’s wider involvement in project SUITE.

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of Research Innovation Role Profiles.pdf.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competencies and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and, secondly, the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Newcastle University is committed to the responsible use of research metrics as part of our research culture and research strategy. We advocate for the transparent, appropriate, and inclusive use of metrics, guided by expert judgment, to support high-quality, impactful research that is open, collaborative and sustainable. Click here for our full policy statement on the Responsible use of Research Metrics. Click here for a self-study e-learning module on the Responsible Use of Research Metrics.

Find out more about the Faculty here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sage/

Find out more about our Research Institutes:  https://tinyurl.com/mr3wet47 and https://tinyurl.com/yb9cn53r

Contact for the post is roberto.palacin@ncl.ac.uk

Duration of post is 2 years

Key Accountabilities 

• Support the PI and Co-I in coordinating all technical and management activities related to Newcastle University contributions to the project including but not limited to  monitor and, where appropriate, manage research resources effectively
• Play a leading role in the team, including progressively larger and/or more complex projects, or as an individual researcher in their specific research area
• Contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of the project
• Determine appropriate methodologies for research
• Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations
• Contribute to the writing up of the research and its dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications
• Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and develop own research objectives and proposals for funding

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of/Ability to/Experience of using and developing machine learning algortithms
• Attention to detail and ability to work at high levels of accuracy
• Ability to present complex information effectively to a range of audiences
• Proven ability to analyse data and write-up results
• Experience of working collaboratively with colleagues
• Excellent IT skills in all major office applications
• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems
• Awareness of the research environment
• High level of analytical and problem solving capacity
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity
• Experience of presentations at conferences and/or in high quality publications

Attributes and Behaviour

• Commitment to working positively as a member of a multi-skilled research team
• Ability to negotiate and prioritise multiple, competing responsibilities and to work to deadlines
• Commitment to continued professional development
• Understanding of good practice in equality, inclusion and diversity

Qualifications

• Honours degree in engineering, computing science or related areas
• PhD in power systems analytics, modelling of transport-energy interactions or similar

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29801