Research Fellow in Water Treatment Sustainability; Coagulant Recovery

Organisation/Company CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY Research Field Chemistry Engineering Chemistry Environmental science Geosciences Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) First Stage Researcher (R1) Final date to receive applications 13 Sep 2026 - 00:00 (UTC) Country United Kingdom Type of Contract Other Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Organisation: Cranfield University
Faculty or Department:Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Based at:Cranfield Campus, Cranfield, Bedfordshire
Hours of work:37 hours per week, normally worked Monday to Friday. Flexible working will be considered..
Contract type:Fixed term contract
Fixed Term Period:24 months
Salary:Full time starting salary is normally in the range of £38,655 per annum
Apply by:13/09/2026

Role Description

The Cranfield Water Science Institute welcomes applications from passionate, skilled and motivated engineering, chemistry or environmental science graduates with a PhD in the field of water or wastewater treatment processes to join our team and contribute to investigate treatment strategies for chemical circularity and sustainability in drinking water production.

About the Role

We are looking for a self-driven Research Fellow to join our dynamic team to address the challenge of chemical circularity and sustainability in drinking water treatment. The UK produces 5 trillion litres of high-quality drinking water each year. Producing this water currently relies on large volumes of chemicals and energy intensive processes, which generate significant waste, emissions, and environmental pressures. Based at Cranfield University, this research is part of
Chemnovate
–
Circular and Low Carbon Chemical Solutions for Drinking Water
. Chemnovate is a new project awarded funding by the UK water regulator OFWAT and is led by Anglian Water in partnership with Cranfield University, Essex and Suffolk Water Limited,Northumbrian Water Limited,Scottish Water Limited,Spring Innovation Limited. The project aims to address the major challenges to achieving chemical circularity and sustainability in drinking water production.

The successful candidate for this position will investigate advanced and innovative treatment options for coagulant recovery in drinking water. This research will look at the latest membrane-based technology to recover high purity coagulants from drinking water treatment. The aim is to mitigate the environmental impact of drinking water coagulant sludge in the UK, which currently is either sent to landfill or applied to agricultural land.

You will join us as part of a cross-organisational team, working with Cranfield researchers, water companies and innovation facilitators to translate experimental findings into feasibility analyses, benchmarked against UK water company operational data. This is a great opportunity for any researcher passionate about water processes, environmental engineering and science to deliver impactful research for the water sector

About You

You will have a PhD(or close to completion) in a relevant engineering or science discipline such as, but not limited to, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, chemistry or environmental science related to the research topic. The successful candidates will assess the feasibility of advanced and innovative technologies for coagulant recovery such as membrane systems or electrodialysis.

The ideal candidate will have expertise in:

• Experimental research related to water treatment processes, ideally in the field of coagulant recovery, membrane processes or other relevant separation processes
• Advanced analytical techniques, particularly those pertaining to natural organic matter characterisation
• Statistical data analysis
• Working with pilot plants

You will have project management skills and demonstrable experience of timely research delivery, with excellent demonstrable communication skills and experience working with different stakeholders. You will be able to demonstrate a track record of high-quality scientific publications. The ideal candidate will have knowledge and experience of water chemistry and treatment. Equivalent industry experience would be considered.

About Us

As a specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships are creating leaders in technology and management globally. Learn more about Cranfield and our unique impact here .

The Water Science Institute undertakes globally leading research and post graduate teaching in water and wastewater process science, engineering and management. We drive sustainable solutions to combat the multiple challenges being faced by our water resources, assets and services. We have a track record of delivering collaborative cutting-edge discovery science on the transformation, removal and recovery processes in water and…