Research Associate in Effects of Stress on High-Pressure Phase Reactions

at  The University of Manchester

We invite applications for the position of Post-Doctoral Research Associate to join the team on a 5 year, £3.2M, NERC Large Grant “Feedbacks between mineral reactions and mantle convection”, a project to shed new light on how mineral reactions influence the positions of major seismic discontinuities in Earth’s mantle. Key hypotheses to be explored are: the “dynamic pressure” in the mantle has an effect on mineral reaction and hence the positions of seismic discontinuities, and that stress has a major effect on reaction conditions and again on the positions of seismic discontinuities.
Your role will be to perform experiments at mantle conditions (up to 25 GPa, temperatures up to 1800°C) measuring the effect of stress on evolving mineral properties. These experiments will in volve both stress relaxation and controlled strain-rate deformation experiments, in Manchester and at national facilities. To understand how the minerals change, we will examine the experimental products to discover the details of structure and chemistry on the scale of individual grains.
The observations gained from these experiments will enable us to understand how chemistry and stress interact and their effect on the depth of the mantle phase transitions. You will work closely with other team members (Liverpool, UCL, Orleans, Cardiff) to ground-truth their modelling effort. The whole team will contribute to comparing these results to seismological observations (Cambridge).
What can you expect in return
The University will actively foster a culture of inclusion and diversity and will seek to achieve true equality of opportunity for all members of its community.

What you will get in return:

• Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
• Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
• Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
• Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
• Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.
Our University is positive about flexible working you can find out more here
Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.
Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.
Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk.
Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Please refer the Job description for details