Ref Number
B04-07690
Professional Expertise
Research and Research Support
Department
UCL BEAMS (B04)
Location
London
Working Pattern
Full time
Salary
£43,981-£52,586
Contract Type
Fixed-term
Working Type
Hybrid
Available for Secondment
No
Closing Date
16-Aug-2026
Set within UCL’s Faculty of The Built Environment, The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER) is comprised of four world-class institutes, providing the expert knowledge collaborative research and teaching. This includes the UCL Energy Institute, whose purpose is to help to build a globally sustainable energy system, by bringing to bear multiple disciplinary perspectives to observe, analyse, model and interpret energy use and energy systems. Our research combines different approaches to develop tools, models and methods that address global energy challenges. We work in partnership with industry, government and other academic bodies, ensuring that what we do has a real-world impact.
The UCL Energy Institute (EI) is recruiting a Research Fellow in Systems Modelling. The purpose of the role is to support global modelling of critical materials. Specifically, this will build and apply a dynamic decision-support modelling framework to evaluate the UK’s industrial resilience within global lithium markets. The work constitutes a core activity under the Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme. The CCG programme is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support investment in sustainable energy and transport systems that meets development priorities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This specific funding under CCG is designated non-ODA (Overseas Development Aid), with a stronger focus on global critical material supply chains and implications on the UK supply resilience and sustainability. Specifically, the research will: • Support the design of a global model on critical materials supply chains, initially Lithium, to assess economic implications of different scenarios • Build the model infrastructure around supply, trade and demand, and support the collation of data for use in the model • Undertake novel scenario modelling that assesses future uncertainty of critical material supply and demand • Work closely with a range of stakeholders, notably in Government but also in academia and industry, to ensure relevance of the modelling to pressing policy challenges in this space.
This post is available from 01 September 2026 and is funded until 31 March 2027 in the first instance; further funding to support the post may become available.
A job description and person specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page. If you have any queries regarding the vacancy, or the application process, please contact [email protected]. If you have specific questions about the role please contact Steve Pye, [email protected]
UCL welcomes applications from international applicants and has licence to sponsor individuals who require a visa. This is dependent on the post and candidate meeting eligibility requirements for visa sponsorship under UK Visas and Immigration legislation.
To apply for this position, it is essential that you have (or be close to completion) a PhD in a relevant discipline (energy, critical materials) or have commensurate experience. You will also require excellent modelling skills, including experience of coding in Python, or similar languages. You will also need to be able to demonstrate a track record in delivering high quality research through publications, and other evidence.
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits, some of which are below: • 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave, 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) • Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme • Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) • Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan • Immigration loan • Relocation scheme for certain posts • On-site nursery • On-site gym • Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay • Employee assistance programme:Staff Support Service • Discounted medical insurance Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.
As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.
