Post Doctoral Research Officer

Applications are invited for the above fixed term, full-time Post-doctoral Research Officer post working in The School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University.

Applications will also be considered to carry out this role on a part-time or job share basis.

Committed To Equal Opportunities

Overview

The city of Bangor is in an area of outstanding natural beauty close to the mountains of Snowdonia and the beach resorts of the North Wales coast and offers a quality of life that surpasses that in most regions of the UK. Lying on the Euro-route to Ireland, Bangor is served by fast train services to most major cities and excellent road connections via the A55 expressway to the motorway network. Manchester and Liverpool airports are within 90 minutes away by car.

Bangor University was established in 1884 and currently has over 11,000 students. It comprises 9 Academic Schools grouped into 3 colleges. The College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at Bangor University is one of the leading centres in the UK for teaching and research in biology, environmental sciences, geography, ocean sciences, chemistry, computer science and electronic engineering. The College has over 2300 students and 350 teaching and support staff and consists of three academic schools and the BioComposites Centre.

The School of Ocean Sciences is a school within the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering. Bangor’s research is changing the world in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences and is 1st in the UK for the impact of its research (2021 Research Excellence Framework), with Bangor research in the top 30 for societal impact in UK. With one of the largest groups of environmental scientists in the UK, our research is ranked 6th in the UK and 1st in Wales for research power. More than 150 UK universities and other research institutes were assessed in this Research Excellence Framework exercise. Our scientists are tackling climate change and addressing some of the planet’s greatest environmental issues on land and sea, such as the overuse of single-use plastics, and protecting the variety of species and ecosystems through biodiversity conservation research.

The Project

Purpose of the Job

The Post-doctoral Research Officer will work alongside project partners (University of Aberdeen, ERI, NOC, Marine Scotland Science, RPSB) on Work Package (WP) 2. This component combines physical, echosounder, biologging and at-sea observation data to better understand how oceanography influences prey availability for seabirds. The postholder is expected to collate and process data, analyse data, disseminate findings, and provide outputs for other WPs.

Main

**Responsibilities**:

- Identification of existing data (biologging and at-sea observations) from literature searches and discussions with project partners, approaching data owners for permission to use existing data, and preparation of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA).- Contribute to fieldwork planning and/or performance.- Cleaning, processing, and amalgamation of data.- Establishing statistical relationships between prey behaviour and oceanographic conditions, culminating with predictions of prey behaviour in space and time.- Establishing statistical relationships between foraging seabirds (obtained from biologging and at-sea observations) and predicted prey behaviour.- Using relationships between oceanography, prey, and foraging seabirds to quantify cumulative prey availability for populations in particular time(s) and region(s).- Supervise PGT/PGR students.- Collaborate with complementary projects (POSIEDON, ECOWind ACCELERATE).- Present research at relevant conferences and project meetings- Contribute to peer-reviewed publications as lead and co-author.Other

**Responsibilities**:

- The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities.- The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme.- The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for themselves and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by their actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.- The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.Person Specification
- Qualifications/Training_

Essential
- PhD (or near completion) in Marine Ecology.- Experience/Knowledge_

Essential
- Knowledge of processes underlying species distribution.- Knowledge of predator - prey interactions.- Knowledge of marine ecosystems.- Experience of working in multi-disciplinary research teams.Desirable