"Research Fellow in Plant Acoustics (modelling-focus)"

University of Southampton - Mechanical Engineering

Full Time Fixed Term for 17 months

About the project

You will join an interdisciplinary project delivered through a collaboration between the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the School of Biological Sciences, and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southampton.

The project will deliver an integrated understanding of plant acoustic emission generation and reception, including transmission pathways through plant tissues and (where relevant) soil. The modelling work will be tightly coupled to experimental campaigns and will use image-derived structures (including XCT images where available) to develop mechanistic, validated mathematical multiscale models.

We are recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate with a modelling background to lead development of the project’s multiphysics modelling framework.

Key accountabilities / duties

You will:

• Develop models describing acoustic emission generation and reception/sensitivity in plants, aligned with experimental observations.
• Build image-informed model geometries and structures (e.g., using XCT datasets available within the team) and develop appropriate multiscale representations.
• Implement and run multiphysics simulations (e.g., vibroacoustics/wave propagation in complex media; soil–plant coupling where relevant), including parameter studies and sensitivity analyses.
• Work iteratively with experimental colleagues to guide measurement design, interpret results and perform model validation.
• Contribute to reproducible modelling workflows (version control, documentation, shareable code and outputs) and participate in production of open research outputs.
• Support and lead preparation of publications, presentations and final project deliverables.

Candidate requirements

Essential

• PhD (or near completion) or equivalent qualifications and experience in Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Acoustics, Computational Science or a closely related discipline.
• Strong experience in numerical/computational modelling (e.g., FEM/multiphysics, wave propagation, computational mechanics).
• Evidence of scientific programming and good software/reproducibility practice (e.g., Python/MATLAB/C++ and/or established modelling platforms).
• Familiarity with asymptotic and multiscale mathematical analysis methods to ground proof numerical simulations
• Strong communication skills and ability to work across disciplinary boundaries.

Desirable

• Experience with image-based modelling workflows (CT/XCT segmentation-to-mesh pipelines).
• Experience with inverse problems, uncertainty quantification, or modelling of biological tissues/porous media.

Informal enquiries: Michal Kalkowski