Assistant Professional Researcher – Building Energy and Environmental Systems Research

UC Davis; Davis (CA); Presencial; USD 95.000 - 130.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

The Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC) at University of California, Davis seeks a researcher to develop a program focused on building energy and environmental systems, including interactions among buildings, energy systems, occupants, and the electric grid.

The role involves designing studies, collecting and analyzing data from primary and secondary sources, writing grant proposals, mentoring students and staff, and publishing results at journals and conferences.

Formación

• PhD in an engineering discipline with at least 3 years post-PhD experience.
• Publications in peer‑reviewed journals and proven proposal development skills.
• Experience designing and conducting experimental, field, or computational research on building energy.
• Strong quantitative data analysis skills (statistics, forecasting, ML) and proficiency in Python, R, MATLAB.

Responsabilidades

• Design and conduct studies; collect and analyze data from primary and secondary sources.
• Write and manage grant proposals and sponsored research projects.
• Lead independent and collaborative research projects and supervise staff.
• Publish findings and present at conferences.

Conocimientos

Data analysis

Statistics

Machine learning

Experimentation

Collaborative skills

Educación

PhD in engineering

Herramientas

Python

R

MATLAB

Energy simulation

Descripción del empleo

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC) seeks to hire a researcher to develop a research program focused on building energy and environmental systems, including the interactions among buildings, energy systems, occupants, and the electric grid.

The research program will encompass the following areas:

• Energy efficiency of buildings and end-use systems, with a focus on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
• Demand flexibility and building-to-grid integration, including development and management of methods for characterizing, forecasting, and controlling building demand flexibility, including load shedding, load shifting, virtual power plants, and grid-interactive building applications.
• Indoor air quality and healthy buildings, including ventilation, filtration, airflow, indoor contaminant transport, environmental sensing, and HVAC control strategies that balance indoor air quality, occupant comfort, and energy use.
• Semantic models, data integration, and interoperability for building systems, sensors, controls, indoor environmental measurements, and flexible energy resources.
• Forecasting, signal disaggregation, and data analytics for building end-use loads, indoor environmental conditions, and demand flexibility.
• Technology commercialization activities, development and cultivation of industry partnerships, and technology transfer of innovations into deployable products and systems.

The researcher will design and conduct studies, collect and analyze experimental and field data from primary and secondary data sources, and develop reproducible computational methods. The researcher will write and manage grant proposals and sponsored research projects, lead independent and collaborative research projects, supervise research staff and student researchers, manage project budgets and sponsor communications, synthesize relevant literature, publish research findings in academic journals, and present research at academic and industry conferences and meetings.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Applicants must possess a Ph.D. in a relevant engineering discipline and have a minimum of three (3) years of post-Ph.D. experience, including a demonstrated record of scholarly achievement, proposal development, project management, and mentoring of students or research staff.
• A record of publications in peer-reviewed journals, and research and mentorship experience is required. The applicant must possess expertise and experience in designing and conducting experimental, field, analytical, or computational research related to building energy and environmental systems. The applicant must have demonstrated experience in quantitative data analysis, including statistics, forecasting, signal processing, and/or machine learning. Competence in relevant computational and data-analysis tools, such as Python, R, MATLAB, or similar platforms, is expected. Experience with building energy simulation, building automation systems, semantic models, data integration, and interoperability frameworks is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to secure research funding and to initiate, coordinate, and conduct research programs with a variety of funding sources, including federal, state, utility, and industry sponsors is desirable. Experience managing research projects, budgets, and student or research staff is desirable.
• Strong interpersonal collaboration and networking skills are required, along with the ability to function at a high level of competence, and to work effectively with individuals representing a diversity of backgrounds, interests, and positions, both within and outside of the University of California.