Research Fellow (Battery Materials Recycling) - College of Engineering and Physical Sciences - 108045 - Grade 7

Position Details

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to November 2028

Closing date: 1st November 2026

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, andweare equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university.We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here todevelopthrough our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programmewhichprovides allprofessionalservices staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential.With almost 5,000professionalservices jobs in a wide-range of functionsin Edgbaston andin our campus inDubai, there are plenty of opportunities foryou to be able to develop yourcareer at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate.We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are,and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees andtothe success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer avarietyof flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working.In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 dayspaid holidaya year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site.On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops,places to eat and drink,our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the Universityof Birmingham

Background

This post is a fixed-term research fellow position funded through HERMES (Hazardous Energy Recycling: Methods for Emerging Specialist Chemistries), a 30-month Innovate UK-funded project led by Recyclus Group Ltd, in partnership with the University of Birmingham.

Lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) are widely used across offshore energy, defence, healthcare, and IoT applications, but currently have no viable commercial recycling route in the UK: unlike lithium-ion batteries, LMBs remain chemically reactive at end-of-life and pose serious fire, explosion, and emission risks when processed using conventional water-based shredding. This has resulted in large, unprocessed UK stockpiles and continued reliance on overseas disposal. HERMES will develop and validate a safe shredding and materials-recovery process for LMBs, building on Recyclus' existing commercial lithium-ion recycling capability at their Wolverhampton facility.

The post-holder will join the Energy materials Group (EMG) in the School of Metallurgy and Materials to identify and validate optimum passivation, discharge, shredding, and materials-separation methods for reactive LMB chemistries (including lithium-sulphur, lithium-thionyl chloride, and manganese-oxide systems). This work will directly inform Recyclus' shredder redesign and scale-up, and contributing to a first-of-a-kind UK LMB processing capability.

Role Summary

• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar

Main Duties

• Design and carry out experimental work to identify and characterise safe discharge and passivation methods for reactive lithium-metal battery chemistries prior to mechanical processing.
• Investigate shredding parameters and atmosphere conditions (including nitrogen-inert and wet environments) suitable for safely processing LMB cells.
• Develop and evaluate materials separation and recovery methods for shredded LMB output streams (e.g. lithium, graphite, steel fractions), assessing recovery efficiency and purity.
• Generate data to inform Recyclus' shredder redesign and process scale-up, working closely with Recyclus' engineering and technical teams.
• Conduct safety and hazard assessments of materials and processes.
• Contribute technical input to the project's life-cycle assessment of shredding/passivation routes, working with the project's LCA lead.
• Prepare technical reports, data summaries, and dissemination outputs (publications, conference presentations) arising from the research.
• Support the supervision of postdoctoral and technician staff recruited to the project, and contribute to day-to-day coordination of laboratory work.
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff
• Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures
• Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity duties document.

Person Specification

• Hold a Bachelor's degree in a Science or Engineering discipline relevant to the project, or equivalent qualifications
• Hold, or near completion of, a PhD in an area relevant to materials recycling, battery manufacture, minerals or process engineering, chemistry, or mechanical, electronic or chemical engineering
• Prior knowledge, experience and achievements in: mechanical shredding or comminution processes, particle/material separation techniques, battery safety or reactive/hazardous chemistry handling, and analytical characterisation (e.g. ICP-OES, SEM, XRD, or XRF) is highly desirable, however training will be given to the right candidate in these areas
• Demonstrably high level of: analytical capability; ability to communicate complex information clearly to a diverse audience; ability to work in an interdisciplinary team; ability to co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• Proven ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
• Understanding of, and ability to contribute to, broader management/administration processes
• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics and duties under the Equality Act 2010. Including fostering good relations and advancing the universities Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
• Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity knowledge, skills and experience document.

Informal enquiries to Rob Sommerville, email:

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.

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