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Steel Research Hub

Current opportunities

Overview

We are seeking dynamic, self-motivated and well-qualified candidates with high-quality research experience in the fields of expertise applicable to the relevant opportunity. You must have a passion for applied, industry-focused research, and high quality communication skills to support successful industry collaborations. You will require strong time and project management skills to ensure project deliverables are met, and you must be prepared to spend significant time in industry partner’s facilities in order to understand and work collaboratively to address the issues faced by the industry.

 You will be supported through additional mentoring, training and personal development designed to help prepare you for a career in both academia or industry. You will be working closely with some of Australia’s best researchers and industry technologists and will form a vital part of a nationally significant research centre.

Current Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and PhD opportunities are shown below, and further opportunities will be added regularly in the coming months. To stay up to date, please register for the Steel Research Hub newsletter. All applications will need to go through the relevant recruitment processes within the host institution, or as detailed on the opportunity advertisement.

Based at RMIT University Melbourne City Campus

Scholarship for 3.5 years full-time study, $AUD 33,413 pa

An exciting opportunity has become available and the Steel Research Hub is looking to recruit a PhD candidate at RMIT University. The PhD candidate will work within the Steel Innovation Hub’s Program 2: Product Innovation & Technology, collaboratively with Chief Investigators and their partner organisations. The student will be trained to undertake high-quality, cutting-edge theoretical molecular modelling of hybrid materials at multiple time and length scales and contribute fundamental materials design principles to guide the industry and experimentally focussed projects undertaken within RMIT’s Materials Modelling and Simulation (MMS) group, see link for details of our current and recent projects. The PhD project will focus on computational modelling of complex interfacial phenomena in nanostructured materials via multiscale computer simulations in order to optimize materials performance under various environmental conditions (temperature, pH, ionic strength). The project also aims at identifying computational strategies for prediction of structural and dynamic properties of complex nano-bio material interfaces as well as on the development and application of computational tools to support theoretical research in the MMS group in collaboration with experimental research partners in Australia and overseas. Application areas for the theoretical modelling developed in this project will include novel materials for industrial coatings as well as for biomedicine, e.g. biosensing, tissue engineering and drug delivery.

Selection criteria

Essential

  • 1st class Honours or equivalent in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or related discipline.
  • Communication skills, both written and verbal; ability to present research outcomes to different audiences.
  • Australian citizenship or permanent residency.

Highly Desirable

  • Experience with molecular simulations/theoretical chemistry. 

Supervision and contact

Senior Supervisor: Distinguished Prof. Irene Yarovsky, Chief Investigator and Program Leader in the ARC Steel Research Hub. For project details please contact: irene.yarovsky@rmit.edu.au

Closing date

The position will close once the appropriate candidate has been recruited.

SCHOLARSHIP FOR 3.5 YEARS FULL-TIME STUDY

$AUD 36,161 pa

Led by the University of Wollongong, the ARC Research Hub for Australian Steel Innovation is a 5 year, $28m research program bringing together 9 Universities and 8 industry partners to deliver innovative research designed to enable a necessary technological shift in the steel supply chain.

Working within Program 1 (Process Integration and Sustainability) of the Steel Research Hub, the PhD Candidate will be involved Project 1.1.3- Inclusion Engineering in Si de-oxidized steel for Rail Grade applications. The position will be responsible for conducting research related to iron and steel processing with specific focus on inclusion formation and interfacial tension associated with steelmaking. They will be involved in planning, experimentation, data analysis, report writing and the communication of results to industry and through peer-reviewed journal articles.

Working within a large scale, multi-disciplinary research entity (30+ PhDs, 20+ Post-Docs), the appointee will work closely with Liberty Primary Steel Whyalla and Swinburne University to undertake applied, industry-focussed research, as well as collaborating with the wider Steel Research Hub research team. While the student will primarily be based at UOW, there is a requirement for the candidate to be able to be placed at our partners steelworks for key periods in support of the research.  The successful appointee will be supported through additional mentoring, training and personal development.

Selection criteria

Essential

  • Academic qualification. Applicants should hold a Masters by Research, or an Honours upper second (greater or equivalent) undergraduate degree in metallurgy, chemical engineering, materials science/engineering or equivalent in a relevant discipline or the equivalent combination of professional experience and academic qualifications.
  • Communication skills in both in writing and orally, presenting research work and outcomes to different audiences

Highly Desirable

  • Laboratory experience in high temperature materials processing.
  • Experience in materials composition measurement techniques.
  • Conditions for application
  • Capacity to be based at the Wollongong campus and at times Partner Organisations including Whyalla Plant and Swinburne University.

Apply

  • Applicants should submit cover letter detailing relevant experience and research interest; CV with names and addresses of two referees; and Academic transcripts.
  • Both domestic and international prospective candidates are encouraged to apply.
  • Contact for position is Brian Monaghan (monaghan@uow.edu.au).

Closing date: 4 Sept. 2023

The longevity of alloy coatings upon steels is reliant upon corrosion inhibition and surface passivation. The project will:

  • Identify passivation mechanisms and develop a detailed passivation model for alloy (Zn-Al-Mg-Si) coatings upon steel.
  • Identify and simulate corrosion mechanisms occurring during storage of passivated (Zn-Al-Mg-Si) coated products.
  • Identify new strategies of corrosion inhibition/passivation using chromate free approaches.

Selection criteria

Essential

  • Academic qualification. Applicants should hold an Honours 1st class (or equivalent) undergraduate degree, or a Master's degree, in a relevant discipline or the equivalent combination of professional experience and academic qualifications.
  • Communication skills in both in writing and orally, presenting research work and outcomes to different audiences.

Highly Desirable

  • Experience in any of materials, chemical engineering or chemistry; including one of either metals, alloys, or coatings.
  • Some understanding of corrosion
  • Some understanding of materials characterisation

Conditions for application

  • Capacity to be based at the Deakin campus (in Melbourne), or BlueScope Steel (in Wollongong).
  • The projects will work in an integrated manner with industry partner BlueScope Steel and will include close collaboration with the BlueScope Innovation Laboratory (including travel to the site).
  • Applicants should submit cover letter detailing relevant experience and research interest; CV with names and addresses of two referees; and academic transcripts.
  • We seek applicants from diverse backgrounds, reflecting all facets of prior experience or history. Full scholarships will be provided to successful applicants, and Australian residents are particularly encouraged to apply.

 Closing date

The position will close once the appropriate candidate has been recruited.

Image credit: Marcos Trinidad from My Sky Views