Research Fellow - appointment

Department School of Engineering and the Built Environment Location City Centre Campus (Millennium Point) Salary £45,235 to £51,182 per annum Fixed Term contract for 12 months. For existing Birmingham City University employees, this opportunity may be offered as a secondment, subject to agreement with your current line manager. Post Type Full Time Release Date 01 October 2026 Closing Date 23.59 hours BST on Sunday 18 October 2026 Reference ABCE
26059

At Birmingham City University, we are a diverse and inclusive learning community of over 31,400 students from more than 120 countries. We aim to become an exemplar anchor institution, creating and sharing knowledge for a better and more inclusive society. We are committed to providing a transformational educational experience, supporting world-class research, and fostering a collaborative and supportive working environment for our staff.

Recognised as one of the UK’s Top 250 employers (Financial Times & Statista), we pride ourselves on being a place where colleagues feel valued, supported, and able to grow their careers while contributing to the success of our students and communities.

Our student demographic reflects the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of Birmingham itself, with a significant proportion of students from minoritised ethnic backgrounds and the majority of our home students coming from the West Midlands. This diversity is a strength, and it calls for a workforce that is equipped to challenge deficit narratives and thinking — those assumptions that position students from underrepresented groups as lacking rather than recognising their assets, strengths and potential.

By embracing this perspective, we aim to create an environment where all students and colleagues can thrive, and where our work contributes positively to the social, cultural and economic life of Birmingham and beyond.

We are seeking a Research Fellow to join our Department of Engineering
, supporting the delivery of high-quality services across the University.

The successful candidate will contribute to the UKRI-funded SMART-SIP+ project, working as a data scientist or software-oriented researcher to help develop pathways to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions in rural Bangladesh. The project focuses on replacing diesel-powered irrigation pumps with solar-powered alternatives, while also using surplus solar energy to power or charge local equipment such as cold storage, post-harvest machinery and low-powered EVs.

You will work with diverse, high-impact datasets encompassing geospatial agricultural mapping, live climate data, energy demands, and socio-technical feasibility (PESTLE) to build an actionable Decision Support Systems (DSS).

You will lead the technical development of a lightweight, Python-centric, open-source DSS. This system must translate our findings into a user-friendly tool tailored for two distinct audiences: local implementers (farmers/investors needing micro-level business cases) and policymakers (requiring macro-level scenario simulations).

For the farmer, cooperative or investor the interface needs to be highly localized, focusing on the specific "site" or "project" level. It should cut through the noise and answer:
What technology works for this farmer right here, how much will it cost, and what is the return?

For Policymakers, Government Agencies, Large-scale Planners the primary goals are strategic resource allocation, agro-industry electrification, and socio-economic upliftment. This interface zooms out: policymakers need to see regional trends, systemic bottlenecks, and opportunities for large-scale interventions (like targeted subsidies).

Beyond software development, you will have the opportunity to leverage this multi-scale dataset to uncover new insights, shape academic discourse, and actively contribute to the project's publication output.

• Lead DSS & Spatial Software Development:
  Design, build, and deploy interactive web applications and mobile apps (e.g., using Streamlit or Dash) that integrate GIS mapping to visualize infrastructure, climate, and crop distribution.
• Scenario & Data Modelling:
  Translate techno-economic models (CAPEX/OPEX) into interactive Python logic and manage data pipelines, including API integration for live climate data.

• BSc/BTech degree in Data Science, Geoinformatics, Computer Science, AI, or a closely related quantitative field.
• Strong proficiency in Python…