Lecturer/Senior Lecturer

The Faculty of Science is seeking outstanding researchers with a strong commitment interdisciplinary collaboration to join our Strategic Research Cluster Initiative.

The Faculty of Science at UNSW is one of Australia's leading scientific research and teaching communities. As part of its 10-Year Strategy and UNSW's  Progress for All strategy, the Faculty is making a significant investment in interdisciplinary research excellence through the establishment of Strategic Research Clusters. This initiative will strengthen collaborative research capability, build critical mass in areas of strategic importance, and develop the scientific leadership needed to address the Faculty's priority Societal Challenges. 

Successful candidates will join one of three Faculty Strategic Research Clusters while being academically based within a host School aligned with their disciplinary expertise. This model combines the strengths of a disciplinary home with opportunities to collaborate across Schools, establish internationally competitive research programs, and contribute to innovative research-led education. They will benefit from:

• Membership of a Faculty-wide Strategic Research Cluster
• Opportunities to build interdisciplinary collaborations across Schools and disciplines
• Research development, mentoring and career support
• Access to competitive internal funding opportunities
• A vibrant and inclusive research environment.

UNSW Science is committed to gender equity across our academic workforce. As part of this initiative, UNSW Science is seeking to achieve a recruitment outcome of at least 50% women  through proactive attraction and equitable recruitment practices. All appointments will be made on merit. We strongly encourage applications from women, and from candidates of all backgrounds who will contribute to a diverse, inclusive and collaborative Faculty.

Strategic Research Clusters

1. Digital-led Discovery and Design of New Materials
Help shape the future of materials discovery by combining computational, theoretical and experimental approaches to design the next generation of functional materials. We are seeking researchers who utilise digital technologies, data-driven approaches and experimental methods to accelerate materials discovery and engineering. Research areas of interest include:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning for materials discovery
• Computational and multiscale materials modelling
• Biomaterials, bio-inspired materials and their underlying physics
• Tissue engineering and regenerative materials
• Functional and structural materials
• Soft matter and active matter
• High-throughput experimentation and screening
• Chemical and physical approaches to materials design
• Engineering biology and synthetic biology platforms for materials innovation.

This Cluster brings together expertise across the Schools of Materials Science & Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics & Statistics, and Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences

2. Environmental Resilience: Prediction, Protection and Restoration
Advance the resilience and protection of our environment through improved environmental sensing and prediction with remote sensing, AI, environmental genomics, One Health, climate modelling, biodiversity and ecosystem restoration. We welcome researchers whose work improves our ability to understand, predict and protect natural and managed environments. Research areas of interest include:

• Environmental sensing, imaging and remote sensing technologies
• Environmental and non-human genomics, microbiomes and One Health
• Climate modelling and prediction
• Artificial intelligence for environmental science
• Carbon modelling and net-zero solutions
• Biodiversity and ecosystem resilience
• Habitat restoration and environmental remediation
• Environmental biotechnology and bioremediation
• Environmental policy, decision support and climate risk
• Hybrid AI and physics-based environmental and climate modelling.

This Cluster connects expertise across the Schools of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Aviation.

3. Discovery for Human Health
Advance human health through interdisciplinary research spanning molecules, cells, tissues, physiology and behaviour. We are seeking researchers who combine experimental, computational and quantitative approaches to better understand health and disease and translate discoveries into improved health outcomes. Research areas of interest include:

• Neuroscience and computational neuroscience
• Human disease and tissue modelling
• Biophysics for human health
• Advanced imaging and image analysis
• Systems biology, quantitative biology and bioinformatics
• Functional genomics and perturbation biology
• Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
• Precision medicine and translational therapeutics
• Artificial intelligence for health and biomedical discovery.

This Cluster brings together expertise across the Schools of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, Psychology, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science & Engineering, and Mathematics & Statistics.

We welcome applications from interdisciplinary researchers whose expertise aligns with the intent of one of the Clusters.