Postdoctoral Research Fellow

This Innovate UK funded full-time post is available from 1/11/2026 for 12 months.

This Innovate UK funded full-time post is available from 1/11/2026 for 12 months.

The starting salary will be from £44,352 on Grade F, depending on knowledge, skills and experience.

Environment, Science and Economy faculty

The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join an Innovate UK funded project called ReB-DC to develop a BESS digital twin and AI-based battery health optimisation framework for stationary battery energy storage systems deployed in mission-critical data centre environments.

The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in insert subject area and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required.

Applicants will be able to demonstrate:

• Sound knowledge of the discipline and research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes.
• Extensive experience of applying AI and ML to energy systems, especially digital twin, BESS modelling, data centre integration with energy networks.
• Strong publication record and sound programming skills in Python.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.

Please contact Prof Zhong Fan,

29 Oct 2026

Join the University of Exeter, a top 200 Russel Group university (QS & THE World University Rankings 2025), excelling in teaching (triple Gold rating, TEF 2023) and leading groundbreaking research in the beautiful southwest of England.

• Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines;
• Support teams that understand the University wide teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly;
• An Innovation, Impact and Business directorate that works closely with our academics providing specialist support for external engagement and development;
• Our Exeter Academic initiative supports high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career;
• A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a Fertility Treatment Policy;
• A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon/Cornwall.

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please get in touch with us at  You can request reasonable adjustments within your application or by contacting us. You can also choose to be considered under our Disability Confident Scheme and find out here how this is managed during our recruitment and onboarding process.