Research Assistant in Energy and Macroeconomics

This role will be based on the university campus, with scope for it to be undertaken in a hybrid manner. We are also open to discussing flexible working arrangements.

Would you like to further your career by applying your quantitative energy and economic skills at one of the UK’s leading research-intensive Universities? Do you want to contribute to finding key new insights to urgent global issues, such as the economic implications of reducing energy use, or the links between economic growth and energy efficiency? If so, this could be the opportunity for you.

The job opportunity is to work as a Research Assistant on an exciting new research project: “Impacts of green growth and degrowth pathways using societal exergy analysis”. 

Meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement’s ambition relies heavily on reducing global energy use through increased energy efficiency, and also switching to renewables-based energy systems. At the same time mainstream modelling projections assume continued economic growth. The strong link between the economy and energy consumption, as well as the needed development of alternative economic (e.g. post-growth and degrowth) pathways translates to an urgent need for new modelling approaches and investigation. 

In response, a Leverhulme project led at the University of Leeds by Dr Paul Brockway is exploring these issues using pioneering Exergy Economics analytical methods. This emerging field applies ‘exergy’ as the thermodynamic-based measure of energy quality: the ability of energy to do physical work. The recent completion by Dr Brockway and colleagues of a country-level primary-final-useful (CL-PFU) energy and exergy database will be utilised directly on this project.

You will be working with the team at Leeds (including Dr Brockway and Dr Emmanuel Aramendia, a post-doctoral researcher, and a PhD student). You will help source and compile data from the CL-PFU database, other macroeconomic energy-economy and statistical datasets (e.g. IEA, OECD, World Bank), and help develop and analyse economic green growth and energy degrowth scenarios (e.g. evolution of energy efficiencies, economic structure, GDP, employment) for modelling analysis. Wider collaboration is possible utilising our existing links to researchers who work in countries such as Portugal, France, Spain, Sweden, Austria, and the United States.

Please note that due to Home Office visa requirements, this role may only be suitable for first-time Skilled Worker visa applicants if they are eligible for salary concessions. For more information please visit: www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.

For research and academic posts, we will consider eligibility under the Global Talent visa. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/global-talent.

What we offer in return

•    26 days holiday plus approx. 16 Bank Holidays/days that the University is closed by custom (including Christmas) – That’s 42 days a year!

•    Generous pension scheme options plus life assurance.

•    Health and Wellbeing: Discounted staff membership options at The Edge, our state-of-the-art Campus gym, with a pool, sauna, climbing wall, cycle circuit, and sports halls.

•    Personal Development: Access to courses run by our Organisational Development & Professional Learning team.

•    Access to on-site childcare, shopping discounts and travel schemes are also available.

And much more!  

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Dr Paul Brockway

Email: p.e.brockway@leeds.ac.uk

Closing Date: 25 Mar 2025

Section: Research

Salary: £32,296 to £37,999 per annum