Nuclear Waste Services Research Support Office

Funding opportunities

Nuclear Waste Services Research Support Office post-doctoral call in Understanding the Mechanisms of Zirconolite Leaching

Full submission deadline:

Monday 24^th June 2024, 16:00

Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), via their Research Support Office (NWS RSO) is requesting applications for a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) project “Understanding the Mechanisms of Zirconolite Leaching” in the Materials Science area.

The aim of the NWS RSO is to develop a portfolio of research projects focused on NWS research priorities. The specific aims of the NWS RSO are to:

• Develop the high-level skills required for the NWS research mission over the coming decades, and to help deliver the next generation of geological disposal researchers.
• Expand the academic geological disposal research community throughout the UK and internationally.
• Encourage collaboration and communication between NWS and the academic community.

The research project in Materials Science is expected to have a duration of 24 months, and the target start date is July 2024. The project proposal indicative budget is £350,000. The assessment and contractual arrangements for the project will be administered by Nuclear Waste Services. The NWS RSO is seeking proposals from academic lead investigators for a PDRA based project within their group. The lead investigator and will be responsible for recruiting a suitable candidate by the target award start date.

There is an expectation that the findings and results, from the work undertaken as part of the projects, will be free to publish but explicit permission must be received from NWS prior to publication.

Call structure:

All clarification questions (including commercial, technical and terms and conditions) must be sent before the clarification period is closed and addressed to the NWS RSO via rso-gdf@manchester.ac.uk.

Any clarification questions to the scope of the project and/or grant agreement terms will only be considered during the Clarification period stated above and will not be accepted after proposal submission.

Proposals will be accepted as .pdf documents and supporting materials emailed to the RSO inbox: rso-gdf@manchester.ac.uk. Exchanges between academics and NWS staff during the tender period is strongly discouraged. Applications will be assessed by a Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) panel of key stakeholders.

Call documentation:

RSO scope and evaluation criteria Zircoilte leaching mechanism_Call_Document_v5

RSO_Zirconolite leaching_Application_Form_v5

NWS_GRANT_Agreement_v5

Clarification Q&A