Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering / Fluid Mechanics

Working at Durham University

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a warm and friendly place to work, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career. The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

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Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential.

Our Purpose and Values

We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what their identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.

Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Join Us? - Information Page.

Discover more about our total rewards and benefits package here.

The Department

This is an exciting opportunity to join a multi-disciplinary Engineering Department which is recognised as one of the very best in the UK, with a reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our graduates. In the REF2021 exercise, 95% of our Engineering outputs were graded “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”. The Department is committed to an ethos of research-led and industrially-relevant education at all levels of our taught programmes. Engineering at Durham University was ranked 6th in The Guardian University Guide 2025, 6th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 and 5th in The Complete University Guide 2026. We are a scholarly community that is open, representative and diverse: our commitment to this is expressed through work of the Department’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group, and our Athena Swan Silver award.

The Department of Engineering demonstrates significant depth of research excellence spanning a range of disciplines, with activities and expertise organised into eight Research Nodes. We are particularly proud of the collaborative interdisciplinary nature of our research, which also includes strong industrial partnerships and our contribution to addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Department of Engineering at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Associate Professor. We welcome applications to join the Department as a member of either our Electrical Power or Fluid Mechanics research nodes.

The Electrical Power Research Node comprises a group of eight academics with seven research associates and 20 PhD students. We have three laboratories to support work in this area, focussing on Smart Grid and Power Systems Modelling, Electrical Machines, and Power Electronics, to underpin research across a range of applications from both a UK and global perspective. The established research activities include the reliability of offshore wind turbines, power take-off systems, smart grids, power system optimisation, hardware-in-loop simulations, magnetic material characterisation and transformer-less power converters. The laboratories house a range of electrical engineering infrastructure, including 75 kW and 20 kW dynamometers, a fully instrumented microgrid and MVDC power electronics. Supported by Real-Time power system simulation capability, these laboratories enable the investigation of a complete electrical power system using a combination of hardware and simulation. Industrial engagement is a key enabler for the research activities, in tandem with development of economic, environmental and societal impact.

The Fluid Mechanics Research Node consists of five academics and ten PhD students. Our research is supported by a host of experimental facilities and access to state-of-the-art CPU and GPU computing clusters. Experimental facilities include: the Durham 2m Wind Tunnel (a SATA member facility with fixed and moving ground configurations and an active turbulence generation system); a supersonic blowdown facility capable of reaching Mach 5 within a hardened test cell; a multifunctional jet generator that produces pulsatile jets in water and supports advanced flow measurements such as StereoPIV and TomoPIV; and the Durham Cascade, a large-scale, low-speed cascade designed to achieve engine-representative Reynolds numbers. Our research spans the full spectrum of fluid mechanics, from theoretical studies to prototype testing, with strong engagement from industrial partners and multiple 4* impact case studies. For computational fluid mechanics work, researchers benefit from access to both open-source and commercial meshing and CFD software, supported by high-performance computing infrastructure.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages at Department of Engineering -

Durham University.

Associate Professors at Durham

Associate Professors on the Education and Research track are encouraged to focus on research and teaching but are also expected to engage in wider citizenship to enhance their own development, support their department and discipline, and contribute to the wider student experience.

Academic colleagues are supported to publish internationally excellent research in high impact outputs including (including monographs and journal articles), in their area of interest with a focus on quality rather than quantity. We will fully support your research needs including practical help such as resources to attend conferences and to fund research activity, as well as a generous research leave policy and a designated mentor. Sitting alongside world class research; teaching quality and innovation is critical to ensure a first-class learning environment and curricula for all our students.

Durham University is also committed to ensuring outstanding teaching quality, stimulating learning environments, and innovative curricula for all our students. You will be supported to develop your teaching expertise and skills.

We are confident that our recruitment process allows us to attract and select the best international talent to Durham. We therefore offer a reduced probation period of 1 year for our Associate Professors and thereafter, subject to satisfactory performance, your position will be confirmed as permanent.

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in either Electrical Engineering or Fluid Mechanics, with the ability and enthusiasm to help educate our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.

We strive to provide a working and teaching environment that is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

Key responsibilities:

Pursue research that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour, commensurate with the Department’s continuing emphasis on international excellence;

Make a significant contribution to the development of successful research project/ fellowship proposals in pursuit of suitable national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement.

Deliver excellent teaching offering lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels. Contribute significantly to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching, including the design of excellent learning environments and curricula.

Contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond. Contribute to establishing and leading research groups within and beyond the University, and engaging in the mentoring of early career researchers;

Attract and provide excellent supervision to research students, and enhance the Department’s commitment to its vibrant and international postgraduate culture.

Contribute significantly to the administrative functioning and collegial environment of the Department and wider University, undertaking leadership activities which support the functioning of the Department and wider University.

Fully engage in, champion and enhance the values of the Department;

Carry out such other duties as specified by the Head of Department.

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key component of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do. We also live by our Purpose and Values and our Staff Code of Conduct. At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to us that all colleagues undertake activities that are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups.

If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.

The University has been awarded the Disability Confident Leader status. If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

Person Specification

Candidates must demonstrate research excellence in one of the general fields of Electrical Engineering or Fluid Mechanics. We are particularly interested in applicants working in experimental electrical engineering research, or in fluid mechanics with applications associated with the energy, aerospace or vehicle aerodynamics sectors. Applicants who have a track record of current funding they could bring to Durham are likely to be in a stronger position than those that do not. Applicants much also balance their research expertise with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.

Research

Candidates must have the capacity for and be progressing towards the independent development of internationally excellent research that produces high-quality outcomes, including some work that is recognised as world-class or that has world-class potential.

Essential Research Criteria

1. Qualifications - a good first degree and a PhD in an appropriate engineering discipline or a related subject.

2. Outputs - that are consistently recognised as internationally excellent, with at least one output regarded as world class. Candidates are asked to submit four research papers with their application (as outlined in the How to Apply section below). Candidates may additionally choose to submit evidence such as external peer review of their outputs.

3. Personal Research Plan - evidence of a personal research plan which supports and enhances the Department of Engineering’s research strategy. The research plan should articulate the candidate’s 3-5 year plan and be a maximum of 2 pages. The plan is required to convey how the research will be supported and delivered.

4. Income Generation - evidence of significant engagement in the development of successful research projects and quality research grant proposals.

Education

Candidates must demonstrate significant contribution to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching with a demonstrable contribution to the design of excellent learning environments and curricula, including curriculum development, that enable students to achieve their potential. The applicant should be an excellent teacher in the area of their current research but be willing and able to teach much more widely in our General Engineering degree course and taught postgraduate courses.

Essential Education Criteria

1. Quality - making a significant contribution to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching at a nationally competitive level. Contribution to training, educating and mentoring other teachers in the department and/or the University in relationship to learning and teaching. (Candidates may choose to provide student evaluation scores and/or peer reviews of teaching).

2. Innovation – evidence of successful new programme development and innovate in the teaching methods for the design / delivery of high-quality teaching at a nationally competitive level including lectures, small group learning and/or using technology or other techniques to enhance learning and/or assessment.

3. Strategic – Significant contribution to the design and delivery of excellent teaching activities and the creation of learning environments that enable students to achieve their potential.

Service, Citizenship and Values

Active engagement in the administrative and citizenship requirements of the Department. Positive contributions to the University’s Purpose and Values and to fostering a respectful environment, as well as demonstrating a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Essential Service, Citizenship and Values criteria

1. Professional qualification - to be either already professionally qualified as a Chartered Engineer, or able to demonstrate progression towards becoming Chartered.

2. Citizenship contribution – a significant contribution to the collegial work and environment of an academic Department, Faculty or University. (Candidates may choose to evidence departmental or University roles, Faculty or University level committees or projects, mentoring activity, pastoral and academic support of students, engagement with widening participation, proactive support of the work of professional services colleagues, contributions to departmental programme management and/or strategic development, contribution to equality and diversity initiatives and membership or engagement with external bodies).

3. Leadership - evidence of leadership roles or a significant contribution to leadership activities that support the administrative functioning of an academic Department, Faculty or University and / or which support the development of the relevant discipline. (Candidates may choose to detail any leadership roles which they have undertaken, preferably in an academic context).

4. Communication - candidates must have excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to engage with a range of students and colleagues across a variety of forums.

Desirable Criteria

The desirable criteria for this post (for which candidates should provide evidence of some if not all criteria) are:

1. Research Leadership -