The BRIDGE Fellow in Water Sciences

About the Fellowship

This five-year fellowship reinforces and extends existing research collaborations between the University of Birmingham and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign by recruiting internationally outstanding scholars at the interface between water sciences and emerging pollutants (such as engineered nanoparticles, environmental plastics, pharmaceuticals and personal care products).

The BRIDGE Fellow in Water Sciences enhances the partnership between the two universities by 1) developing and leading a collaborative, interdisciplinary research program to address issues relating to emerging contaminants and 2) supporting the delivery of undergraduate and masters coursework, including the delivery of lectures, workshops, field course teaching, dissertation supervision and tutorials, alongside associated assessment and marking.

Skills and Expertise

The scholar is expected to be skilled in areas such as large data analysis, experimental design, numerical model development, method integration and data fusion, risk-impact analysis, natural resources management, and water treatment. In alignment with both institutions commitment to excellence in education, fellows will demonstrate their aptitude to deliver inspiring research-intensive teaching and learning at all levels.

Collaborations

A key feature of the program is the opportunity for the fellow to leverage their unique expertise, experimental, analytical and modelling capacities through collaboration with multiple offices, facilities, and institutes at both universities. Specifically, the fellow will interact with the:

EcoLaboratory artificial river facilities at the University of Birmingham,
Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ,
EcoHydraulics and EcoMorphodynamics Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ,
Nanoparticle and Daphnia laboratories at the University of Birmingham,
Illinois Sustainable Technology Center Advanced Analytical Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and
Super computing facilities at both institutions (BlueBear and BlueWaters).

Fellowship Progression

At the end of the fellowship, the fellow will be offered an academic appointment at the University of Birmingham, either at the Assistant Professor level or higher, subject to meeting normal expectations for appointment.

Fellowship Location

The fellowship spans five years, with two of those years spent at Illinois and three years spent at the University of Birmingham. It is expected that the first year of the fellowship would be located at the University of Birmingham, with the two years spent at Illinois during either years two and three or years three and four.

The dual-location approach provides the fellow with the opportunity to integrate fully with the research communities at both institutions, as well as benefiting applicants that have family commitments, which are more fully catered for by a longer period in the United States.

Application Process

The application for the BRIDGE Fellow in Water Sciences is currently closed. The next application cycle has yet to be announced.