Senior Research Co-Ordinator – SEAI Fellowship in Energy Modelling

The Senior Research Coordinator will have the primary responsibility for overseeing, coordinating and undertaking collaborative research on energy policy modelling research between the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and UCC’s Energy Policy and Modelling Group (EPMG). UCC’s team, funded by research projects and in particular, the Climate Action Modelling Group at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), develops a suite of energy systems models (underpinned by TIMES, LEAP and PLEXOS software). The TIMES-Ireland Model (TIM) has played a key role in informing national carbon budgets as recommended by the Climate Change Advisory Council. SEAI develops the National Energy Modelling Framework (NEMF), which underpins national energy and emissions projections, as well as sectoral studies such as the recent National Heat Study. There is a significant opportunity to develop additional research capacity at the intersection of these two modelling teams in order to develop new modelling methodologies.

• Identification and prioritisaion of collaboration opportunities and synergies between SEAI and EPMG energy modelling teams.
• Policy engagement and research dissemination to national stakeholders.
• Outputs including contributing to peer-reviewed journal papers and policy insight papers.
• Represent the EPMG at relevant international and national meetings, conferences, symposia and committees.
• Engage with collaborating research institutes and support the development of collaborative research initiatives.
• Support staff mentorship, supervision and training. Support internal capacity building to ensure the long-term success of the team.
• Contribute to research funding activities.
• Fulfil reporting obligations to the appropriate funding agencies and University bodies.
• Liaise and partner with other groups within and outside of UCC to realise opportunities for the EPMG.
• Undertake other such functions and duties as may be required from time to time.
• To develop and maintain a culture of excellence within the EPMG, committed to providing the highest standard of research, industry engagement and education.

The list of duties detailed above is not intended to be exclusive or restrictive and may be adjusted dependent on the area of research.

MaREI, SFI Centre for Climate, Energy and the Marine, is a key research centre within UCC’s Environmental Research Institute (ERI), which is an internationally recognised Institute for environmental research dedicated to the understanding and protection of our natural environment and to developing innovative technologies, tools and services to facilitate a transformation to a zero carbon and resource efficient society. The MaREI Centre is an SFI funded research centre headquartered in the ERI and includes 13 other Universities and Third Level Institutes from across Ireland, has 50 industrial partners and has accumulated research funding of approximately €60m. It combines the expertise of a wide range of research groups and industry partners, with the shared mission of solving the main scientific, technical and socio-economic challenges across the climate, energy and marine spaces.

MaREI’s Energy Policy and Modelling Group (EPMG) in UCC has been engaged in energy policy and energy modelling research for 20 years. The results of this research have been published in journal papers, conference proceedings and reports and have directly informed the development of national energy and climate mitigation policy. The focus of research in the Energy Policy and Modelling Group is on integrated modelling approaches comprising i) sectoral energy demand and efficiency, ii) electricity, gas and water modelling and iii) full energy systems modelling.