Job Description

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Physical Geography

(

Job Number:

25000810

)

Department of Geography
Grade 7: - 38,249 - 40,497 per annum
Fixed Term - Full Time

Contract Duration

:

29 Months

Contracted Hours per Week

:

35

Working Arrangements

:

TBC

Closing Date

:

05-Aug-2025, 5:59:00 PM

Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement

:

Not Applicable.

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.



We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it's also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.



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

The Role and Department

The Department of Geography at Durham comprises 65 academic staff (approximately equally divided between Human and Physical geography), a graduate school of around 100 research students, around 40 taught postgraduate students and 850 undergraduates. The Department is well supported with technical staff, including a cartography unit, and administrative staff.


The Department was ranked joint first for research quality among UK geography departments in REF2021. 54% of our outputs were classed as 'world leading' and more than 92% as 'world leading' or internationally excellent'. The most recent QS rankings for Geography placed Durham 16th overall in the world. The department is recurrently ranked in the top handful of programmes in the UK by various league tables; for example, we were ranked 1st in the 2025 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, and 4th in the 2025 Complete University Guide.



Our aim is to sustain and support hubs of leadership in geographical scholarship - broadly conceived. We will maintain our reputation for theoretical and conceptual innovation so that we are shaping and leading debates globally.



We will continue to engage concepts and materials from across disciplinary boundaries to renew geographical scholarship and bring geographical perspectives to bear in other domains. We work across every continent and most major oceans and embrace the full diversity of methods and data available to the discipline.



We are further developing our core undergraduate programmes and will be recruiting world leading staff accordingly to ensure these programmes continue to offer the highest quality of education that develop students with skills to advance scholarly and public debates to which geography is central. The quality of our undergraduate students, and the degree programmes which ensue, combine with our large graduate school to provide a teaching experience for staff that is truly excellent.

The Role

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the field of Quantitative Sedimentology and Geophysics of Seafloor Processes. The successful applicant will be part of two major NERC funded projects to make the first detailed measurements of turbidity currents in action in the deep-sea, and to develop novel technologies for monitoring these seabed sediment flows. Turbidity currents form the deepest canyons, longest channels and largest sediment accumulations on our planet. They also break seafloor telecommunication cable networks that form the backbone of global data transfer, and there is emerging understand that they bury globally significant amounts of organic carbon in the deep-sea. This is an exciting and inspiring opportunity to analyse the first measurements of turbidity currents in the deep-sea. This data can lead to step changes in understanding how these seabed sediment flows operate, and their wider implications for hazards to telecommunication cables, organic carbon transfer and sequestration, impacts on seabed life, or role in transferring microplastics and other pollutants.



The successful application will part of two major international projects have already involved four marine research cruises to the Congo Submarine Canyon and Fan in 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025. Those month-long marine cruises have already generated a superb field data-set that includes monitoring of the longest sediment flows yet measured in action on Earth, and the only time-lapse bathymetric surveys of a major submarine canyon-channel. The most recent cruise in 2025 showed that the end of the Congo Submarine Channel is highly active (15% of the time), despite being 1,000 km from shore, and this seafloor channel grew by 10 km in a single year.


These two NERC projects will also underpin another two marine research cruises in March-April 2026 and 2027. These future cruises will deploy moored sensors (e.g. acoustic Doppler current profilers - ADCPs) in a series of submarine canyons in the Gulf of Mexico and along the US East Coast. Time-lapse bathymetric surveys and sediment cores will also be collected again during these cruises in 2026 and 2027, which also aim to test novel geophone-based seabed sensors.


The Postdoctoral Research Associate will benefit from being part of an unusually large international project team including scientists from the UK Universities of Durham, Newcastle, Hull, Loughborough, and the UK National Oceanography Centre, together with collaborators at IFREMER in France, GEOMAR in Germany and MBARI in the USA.


The successful application will assist in analysing field data including from moored-sensors (e.g. acoustic Doppler current profilers), time-lapse bathymetric and sub-bottom profiler surveys of the seabed, and sediment cores. They may also assist in analysis of monitoring data from Ocean Bottom Seismometers and Hydrophones. These data sets include those already collected from the Congo Submarine Canyon in previous marine cruises, and data collected by future cruises to the Gulf of Mexico and US East Coast. The aims of these analyses include to understand: the frequency and triggers of turbidity currents, what these flows comprise and how they behave, and how they sculpt the seafloor or are recorded by their deposits. The successful applicant will ideally also seek to understand the wider implications of these flows, such as for hazards to seabed cables, and processes of organic carbon burial or pollutant transfer to the deep sea. They will ideally take part in two forthcoming marine campaigns to the Gulf of Mexico and US East Coast in 2026 and 2027 and thereby help to collect data onboard research vessels. They will also be involved in planning logistics for these two marine research cruises, and in analysing, publishing and archiving a range of field data after the marine research cruises have finished.

Key responsibilities:

To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications. To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences. To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder. To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals, including planning of marine cruises. To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder. To work with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio. To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions. To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration. To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects including marine cruises. To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate. To be involved in student supervision, as appropriate, and assist with the assessment of the knowledge of students. To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline. To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses. To participate in project team meetings and workshops in the UK and India.

This post is fixed term for 29 months, or until 12 February 2028, whichever is sooner; funding is available for this fixed research period only.

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.



Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 12th October 2025.

Working at Durham

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits:


30 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year - a total of 42 days per year. The University closes between Christmas and New Year - please include or delete if not applicable. We offer a generous pension scheme, As a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS). No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies. There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally. There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University. All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities. Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state of the art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme. On site nursery is available plus access to holiday camps for children aged 5-16. Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers). The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community Discounts are available via our benefits portal including; money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions. A salary sacrifice scheme is also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits. If you are moving to Durham, you may be eligible for help with removal costs and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools. If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.


Discover more about our total rewards and benefits package here.

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.

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries

For informal enquiries please contact Prof. Peter Talling (peter.j.talling@durham.ac.uk). All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email. Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you're experiencing to e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk



Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or +44 191 334 6801 from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time. We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).

University contact for general queries about the recruitment process

How to Apply

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification below. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.



While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.

Submitting your application

We prefer to receive applications online. We will update you about your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to make sure you have not missed any of our updates.

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:


a CV A cover letter which details your experience, skills, and achievements in meeting (or the potential to meet) the criteria set out below. The cover letter should also set out how you wish to exploit scientific opportunities provided by these data sets from previous and forthcoming marine research cruises. This includes scientific questions you wish to address, and why those questions are important.

Next Steps

Short-listed candidates will be invited to the University, either virtually or in-person and will have the opportunity to meet key members of the Department. The assessment for the post will normally include an interview,



In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date.



Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement Job Applicants/Potential Job Applicants - Durham University which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.



When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

Qualifications

1. A good first degree in Geophysics, Geology, Geography, Earth Sciences or a related discipline



2. A PhD (or be close to submission) in quantitative sedimentology, geophysics, or quantitative geomorphology.

Experience

3. Experience in conducting high quality academic research.



4. Demonstrable ability to write material of a quality commensurate with publication in highly-ranked journals.



5. Demonstrable ability to present research papers at conferences and communicate complex information to specialists and within the wider academic community



6. Experience in quantitative analysis of sedimentary processes, and/or geophysical monitoring and mapping



7. Experience of research in sedimentary processes, and/or geophysical monitoring and mapping.

Skills

8. Demonstrable ability to write succinctly and clearly.



9. Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals, commensurate with stage of career.



10. Demonstrable ability to organise complex logistics effectively, and to be well organised.



11. Demonstrable ability to analyse complex data sets, and understand their wider scientific significance.



12. Demonstrable ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, including participating in research meetings.



13. Ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines.



14. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Desirable Criteria

1. A track record of presenting research at conferences, symposia, or meetings, commensurate with stage of career.



2. Demonstrable ability to develop research proposals and designs in collaboration with other academics.



3. Demonstrable ability to organise complex logistics efficiently.



4. Experience of overseeing students with respect to the development of their practical/research skills e.g. acting as a demonstrator; supervising student projects/practicals.



5. Experience in analysis of marine geophysical surveys or geophysical monitoring.



6. Experience in analysis and dating of sediment cores.



7. Ability to show leadership in scientific projects commensurate with career level.

Skills

8. Quantitative skills for analysis of complex spatial survey data, such as via a GIS



9. Numerical skills appropriate for handling and analysing large and complex geophysical datasets, including programming skills in languages such as Python or Matlab.



10. Skills in description, analysis and dating of sediment cores.



11. Skills in analysis of amount and type of organic carbon in sediment cores.



12. Skills in analysis of seismological or hydro-acoustic data.



13. Ability to collect field data as part of a team in sometimes challenging settings.