Indoor Air Quality and Chemistry Model Developer

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 49,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading research institution in Birmingham seeks a Research Associate to lead the development of indoor air quality models in support of a significant research hub. The role involves contributing to air quality modelling related to the UK housing scenario and engaging with stakeholders for capacity-building activities. Candidates should possess strong atmospheric modelling skills and a PhD (or nearing completion) in a related field. Additional benefits include generous leave and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

40 days paid holiday per year

Occupational sick pay

Pension scheme

Subsidised day nurseries

Qualifications

• PhD (or near completion) in atmospheric science or related field.
• Experience in overseeing modelling projects.
• Ability to work semi-independently.

Responsibilities

• Develop indoor air quality and chemistry modelling.
• Contribute to air quality and chemistry modelling.
• Present findings at Hub meetings and public-engagement events.

Skills

Atmospheric or air pollution modelling skills

Time-management and planning skills

Technical communication skills

Education

PhD in atmospheric science, meteorology, or closely related field

Undergraduate degree in Chemistry, Physics, or Atmospheric Science

Tools

INCHEM-Py

Job description

Position Details

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Part Time (18.75 hours to 22.5 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to February 2029

Closing date: 9th February 2026

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

We are recruiting a research associate to develop indoor air quality & air chemistry modelling approaches and apply these to the UK house scenarios, in support of the newly funded INHABIT hub.

The UKRI-NIHR INHABIT: 'Indoor HABItability during the Transition to Net Zero Housing Hub' is a £7.3 million research hub with an overall aim of producing scientific evidence and policy-relevant solutions to realise the health co-benefits of the UK's net zero transition in housing. To this aim, INHABIT is bringing together key stakeholder groups including:

• Scientists from a range of disciplines (including social science, climate, air quality, health and economics) from the 11 institutions
• 14 Regional, local and national government representatives
• 6 governmental-associated entities
• 4 housing associations
• 4 industrial partners
• 4 NGOs

INHABIT is a transdisciplinary collaboration network involving 32 investigators and 28 stakeholders and a team of postdoctoral research and knowledge exchange fellows.

The holder of this post will work across two workstreams leading the development of the indoor air chemistry module for the housing stock model and contribute to indoor/outdoor air quality & chemistry modelling. The holder will be responsible for the modelling aspects relating to the indoor emissions inventory and the multi-box application of an existing model (MBM-Flex) based on INCHEM-Py to resolve inter-room variability in indoor air quality throughout buildings of any user-specified size and complexity.

Role Summary

The post holder will join the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, one of the leading research bases for Atmospheric Science in the UK.

They will lead the development of the MBM-Flex-based chemistry modelling and liaise with the other researchers to inform the development of suitable indoor emissions harvesting the Indoor Emissions Inventory for the UK housing stock, and also interface with the EnergyPlus modelling activities.

Main Duties

Indoor air quality & chemistry modelling

• Develop indoor air quality & chemistry modelling approaches
• Apply these modelling approaches to the UK housing stock using building archetypes
• Interface the MBM-Flex/INCHEM-Py based modelling with EnergyPlus modelling
• Contribute to indoor/outdoor air quality & chemistry modelling
• Maintain and update existing indoor emissions inventory and critically evaluate its output

Data analysis & presentation

• Create clean and integrate research datasets
• Perform initial model data analyses and validation
• Present and interpret research outputs for diverse audiences, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, and at seminars and as posters

Dissemination & stakeholder engagement

• Provide guidance as required to support researchers who may be assisting with or apply the model developments to relevant scenarios with focus on UK real‑world conditions
• Present findings at Hub meetings, local‑authority workshops and public‑engagement events
• Contribute to capacity‑building activities (e.g. training on modelling tools)

General duties

• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Assist with ethics/data‑sharing documentation
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture in line with university policies

Person Specification

An enthusiastic approach to air quality research, and interest in its application to indoor environments and health

Skills

• Strong atmospheric or air pollution modelling skills are essential; previous experience with INCHEM-Py, or of comparable atmospheric chemical modelling systems, is desirable
• Strong time-management, planning and prioritising skills to meet deadlines are essential; this is an exciting and innovative delivery-focussed post
• Good technical communication skills are essential to report the model development

Qualifications

• Will have a PhD (or near to completion) in a research area relating to the numerical modelling of atmospheric chemistry and transport, chemistry-climate interactions, or meteorology, or equivalent background from other disciplines
• Undergraduate degree in Chemistry, Physics, Atmospheric Science, or closely related field

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience in, or as appropriate to career stage potential for, overseeing modelling projects to successful completion
• Experience, or as appropriate to career stage potential for, developing atmospheric chemistry-transport models (CTMs) or chemistry-climate models (CCMs) is a key asset; e.g., developing new parameterisations and/or restructuring models, as opposed to simply running them with different input datasets. Experience of indoor air quality modelling is not essential
• Ability to work semi-independently, take initiative but know when to seek advice to avoid 'unpicking' later; good communication skills are desirable

In addition to a PhD (or near to completion) in atmospheric science, meteorology, or similar, applicants may have post-doctoral experience demonstrating the attributes above.

Informal enquiries to Christian Pfrang, email: [e-mail] and William Bloss, email: [e-mail]

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.