Address- School of Civil Engineering
- Join a university ranked in the world's top 50
- Access state-of-the-art facilities to further your research endeavours
- Full time, fixed term appointment up to 1.5 years
- Based at our vibrant and picturesque St Lucia Campus
About UQ
As part of the UQ community, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.
At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. UQ has made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.
As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.
About This Opportunity
An exciting opportunity exists for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with expertise in Disaster Risk and Vulnerability as it relates to infrastructure and the built environment. This position is for a 1.5 year appointment and will look to develop our understanding of the vulnerability of critical infrastructure assets, networks, and buildings to a range of natural hazards (primarily wind, flood and fire). The purpose of this work is to, where possible, develop quantitative fragility or vulnerability models that can be used within risk assessment or disaster scenario planning frameworks.
The Fellow will work as part of a team on two projects funded by Natural Hazards Research Australia. The first of these, and the primary focus of the Fellow, is Modelling impacts of natural hazards on interconnected infrastructure networks, and the second, Evaluating the Resilient Homes Fund. For both projects the Fellow will be required to work with interdisciplinary research teams and interact closely with industry-based end-users.
Key responsibilities include:
Research
- Utilise infrastructure damage data to develop empirical vulnerability and fragility models to quantify direct and indirect wind, flood and fire impacts on those networks.
- Work with end-user organisations to understand intra- and inter-network damage patterns so these can be built into damage models.
- Develop a series of case studies to highlight the use of damage models that are developed within the project.
- Identify and analyse key variables that influence the extent of damage housing sustains during flood events.
- Write and edit scientific works and publish high-quality reports and scholarly papers.
- Support development of research proposals for funding in aligned topics.
- Contribute to and engage in other research activities to achieve the project aims.
Supervision and Researcher Development
- Contribute to the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).
- Demonstrates personal effectiveness in supervision and the management of researcher development.
- Effective lead and develop supervisee performance and conduct by providing feedback, coaching, and professional development.
- As appropriate, manage research support staff effectively throughout the employee lifecycle in accordance with University policy and procedures.
- Working to promptly resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with University policy and procedures.
Citizenship and Service
- Demonstrate citizenship behaviours that align to the UQ values.
- Shows leadership of self through collaboration and active participation in priority activities for the unit.
- Provide support to other academic positions and unit operations as needed during other team members absences.
- Contribute to internal service roles and administrative processes as required, including participation in decision-making and service on relevant committees.
- Collaborate in service activities external to the immediate organisation unit.
- Begin to develop external links and partnerships by cultivating relationships with industry, government departments, professional bodies and the wider community.
This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ's Criteria for Academic Performance.
This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position for up to 1.5 years. At Academic level A. The full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $77,324.85 - $102,945.12, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $90,470.08- $120,445.79 annually. As these roles are covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases in line with the Enterprise Agreement.
The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options and flexible start/finish times, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.
About You
- Completed or submitted PhD in an Engineering or Science field with a focus on natural hazards or their impacts on the built environment.
- Demonstrated competence in:
- Quantitative analysis or modelling of natural hazards or loss/damage/impact data.
- Mathematical programming in Python, R, MATLAB or equivalent.
- Desired (but not essential):
- Experience working within a GIS framework.
- Experience working with industry partners and stakeholder engagement.
- Experience managing research projects
- Experience working in an interdisciplinary environment/team
- Evidence of publications in reputed refereed journals and presenting at conferences.
- High level of drive and enthusiasm.
- High level of interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:
- Work Rights: Visa sponsorship may be offered for this appointment.
- Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits.
Relocating from interstate or overseas? We may be able to support you with the visa sponsorship process and a relocation support package. You can find out more about life in Australia's Sunshine State here.
Questions?
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Dr Matthew Mason via *************@uq.edu.au. For application queries, please contact ******@uq.edu.au stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.
Want to Apply?
All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:
- Resume
- Cover letter
- Responses to the 'About You' section
Other Information
At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion. We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be gender identity, LGBTQIA+, cultural and/or linguistic, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, or people with a disability. Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to ******@uq.edu.au.
If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.
Applications close Sunday 9th June 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-38299).
