"AWE Research Fellow in Materials Ageing"

University of Surrey - Mechanical Engineering Sciences

Location: Guildford
Salary: £41,064 to £46,049 per annum
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent

Placed On: 22nd January 2026
Closes: 18th February 2026
Job Ref: 002226

The University of Surrey is a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research.
We are ambitious and have a bold vision of what we want to achieve - shaping ourselves into one of the best universities in the world, which we are achieving through the talents and endeavour of every employee.
Our culture empowers people to achieve this aim and to collectively, and individually, make a real difference.

The role

This is a prestigious 5-year fellowship (upto March 2031) funded by AWE Nuclear Security Technologies. The successful candidate will spend around half of their time working with the wider team in AWE's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Materials Ageing, Performance and Lifetime Prediction. This will include working collaboratively with our six visiting researchers, around 15 Surrey academics and researchers across Engineering and Chemistry, doctoral researchers, and technical staff across the University. You will also join the steering group for the CoE. The role also enables the successful applicant to spend up to half of their time developing their own materials ageing research with a healthy consumables and travel budget to support this. In addition to carrying out research their is an expectation of leadership in terms of supporting the CoE community in research excellence, impact and external academic and industrial engagement.

About you

You will be:

• An enthusiastic researcher and communicator.
• Able to work effectively with the wider team at the University of Surrey, at AWE and beyond.
• Driven to define and deliver high quality ageing research and manage its impact.
• Adept at effective outreach and networking in support of the CoE's ongoing growth within the UK's materials landscape.
• Willing to work within the UK Defence Landscape.
• Willing to be security checked to any level deemed appropriate.

To enable close integration with AWE, the Research Fellow may need to obtain security clearance. This means that they will need to be a British National and have resided in the UK for the past five years.

How to apply

Applications should be made through the University of Surrey's Job Opportunities website.

Any questions ahead of formal applications should be directed to Professor Mark Whiting, Professor of Materials Ageing and Director of the CoE, by email: m.whiting@surrey.ac.uk referencing "Research Fellow Materials Ageing" in the subject line.

Please note interviews are scheduled for week commencing 23 February.

Further details

For more information and to apply online, please download the further details and click on the 'apply online' button above.
In return we offer a generous pension, relocation assistance where appropriate, flexible working options including job share and blended home/campus working locations (dependent on work duties), access to world-class leisure facilities on campus, a range of travel schemes and supportive family friendly benefits including an excellent on-site nursery.

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.

The University of Surrey is committed to providing an inclusive environment that offers equal opportunities for all. We place great value on diversity and are seeking to increase the diversity within our community. Therefore we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups, such as people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and people with disabilities.