Acknowledgement of Country

CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. View our vision towards reconciliation

Child safety

CSIRO is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people involved in our activities and programs. View our Child Safe Policy.

The opportunity

• Help reduce the impact of environmental contaminants linked to adverse human health and ecosystem
• Collaborative, flexible, innovative workplace that values you and your career development
• Join CSIRO – Australia's premier research organisation 

CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) Postdoctoral Fellowships provide opportunities to scientists and engineers who have completed their doctorate and have less than three years of relevant postdoctoral work experience. These fellowships aim to develop the next generation of future leaders of the innovation system.

In this position you will undertake research in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) which are a group of synthetic chemicals that are linked to adverse human health and ecosystem impacts even at trace concentrations. You will be responsible for research development and delivery of a new treatment technology for PFAS-impacted waters that is scalable, practical, cost-effective, and with low carbon footprint. You will design a bench-scale treatment train system and optimize the process by combining analytical with computational chemistry. Subsequently, you will refine the newly developed process for application at wastewater treatment plants and demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology on real-world PFAS-impacted wastewater.
 
This research project offers the unique opportunity to take fundamental science all the way to application in the real world, developing skills, networks, tangible IP and helping to solve a global generational challenge. This research will be a collaborative international project between CSIRO and Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, CO, USA

Your duties will include:

• Carry out innovative, impactful research of strategic importance to CSIRO that will, where possible, lead to novel and important scientific outcomes. 
• Participate and contribute to engagements with peers and key stakeholders to obtain feedback and guidance on the project and ensure outputs produced are not only scientifically sound, but also 'fit for purpose' and therefore impactful in terms of having large uptake.
• Undertake regular reviews of relevant literature and patents and carry out research investigations requiring originality, creativity and innovation.
• Recognise and exploit opportunities for innovation and the generation of new theoretical perspectives, and progress opportunities for the further development or creation of new lines of research.

Location:  Adelaide (Waite Campus), South Australia

Salary:  AU$96k - AU$105k plus up to 15.4% superannuation

Tenure:  Specified term of 3 years

Reference:  97413

To be considered you will need:

• A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as engineering, environmental science, or environmental/analytical/physical chemistry. Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have no more than 3 years (full-time equivalent) of postdoctoral research experience.
• Extensive hands-on experience in laboratory work with organic environmental contaminants.
• Excellent and demonstrated experience with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Ability to independently develop analytical approaches including sampling, sample processing, chemical analysis, and data analysis.
• Ability to design and conduct experiments related to the transformation of environmental organic contaminants.

For full details about this role please view the Position Description

Eligibility

Applications for this position are open to all candidates – Australian/New Zealand Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents, or candidates who either hold, or are able to obtain, a valid working visa for the duration of the specified term (visa sponsorship and relocation assistance may be provided to the successful candidate if required).

Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character requirements.

Flexible working arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. 

Diversity and inclusion

We are working hard to recruit people representing the diversity across our society, and ensure that all our people feel supported to do their best work and feel empowered to let their ideas flourish. 

About CSIRO

At CSIRO Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. We put the safety and wellbeing of our people above all else and earn trust everywhere because we only deal in facts. We collaborate widely and generously and deliver solutions with real impact. 

CSIRO is committed to values-based leadership to inspire performance and unlock the potential of our people.

Join us and start creating tomorrow today!

How to apply

Please apply on-line and provide a cover letter and CV that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role.

Applications close

2 September 2024, 11:00pm AEST