Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Hybrid Ice-Protection Systems for Aerospace and Wind Energy Northumbria University in United Kingdom

Northumbria University is recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for an EPSRC-funded project titled “Ice Protection using Slippery Liquid-like Coatings with Integrated Active Methods”. The project focuses on developing a hybrid ice-protection technology for aircraft wings, wind turbines, and other critical structural surfaces.

The research combines materials science, mechanical engineering, physics, aerospace engineering, and electrical engineering. The successful candidate will work on low-ice-adhesion coatings for passive protection, acoustic-wave-based ice removal for active mechanical protection, and benchmarking against electrothermal heating for thermal active protection. Work will include in-lab experiments, wind tunnel experiments, experimental investigation, technology integration, and performance validation.

The post is based in the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics at Northumbria University and is led by Prof. Richard Yongqing Fu, Prof. Hamdi Torun, and Dr. Prashant Agrawal. The project also involves collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, including Prof. Glen McHale, Dr. Gary Wells, and Prof. Dipa Roy, alongside industry partners.

This is a fixed-term, three-year research appointment starting on 1 Oct 2026. The post is funded by the UK EPSRC, with a total project value of £1.2 million. The post is aimed at candidates with a background in engineering, physics, materials, or a related field, especially those interested in anti-icing, de-icing, surface acoustic waves, microsystems, and sustainability-oriented applied research.

The application deadline is 31 August 2026. Interested applicants should use the official jobs.ac.uk application page linked in the post.