Research Associate in Mechanical Recycling Processes

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Job title Research Associate in Mechanical Recycling Processes Job reference REQ
260739 Date posted 09/10/2026 Final date to receive applications 16/11/2026 Location Loughborough Package Specialist and Supporting Academic Research grade 6 from £35,608 to £41,064 per annum. Subject to annual pay award. Job description

Full Time, Fixed Term for 24 months

This role is not suitable for remote working and is office / laboratory based only. It is essential that the post holder has the ability and willingness to travel to national and international partners and undertake occasional short visits to project partners.

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About the University

Universities are one of this country’s greatest assets. We’re educators, employers, innovators and pioneers. We shape culture and society.

At Loughborough, we strive for better, think differently, challenge convention and take action. We are passionate about finding solutions to the major problems faced by society and the planet, and we create opportunities for those with the drive, the ambition, and the determination to apply themselves in the pursuit of better.

About the role

This 24-month fixed-term post contributes to ReSurface, a major EPSRC and Defra-funded project addressing synthetic sports turf recycling. You will be based in the Wolfson School's Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing and Recycling Technologies (SMART), collaborating closely with the Sports Technology Institute and Department of Materials in a highly interdisciplinary, industry-facing environment.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Design, build and optimise lab-scale mechanical recycling processes for end-of-life synthetic sports turf.
• Plan and run experiments to evaluate process efficiency, separation performance, energy use and material yields.
• Work with industry partners to align outcomes with scale-up requirements.
• Provide process data to support lifecycle and system-level modelling.
• Publish in peer-reviewed journals and present findings to academic and industry audiences.

About you

An ideal candidate should have the following skills:

• Experience in the mechanical design of lab-scale equipment.
• Experience in experimental research related to mechanical…