Research Assistant/Associate in Digital Twin Development

Salary: Research Assistant: £33.951 to £36,636 per annum
            Research Associate: £36,636 to £46,069 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 25 June 2026

The Role

We are excited to launch this new opportunity for a Research Assistant/Associate in Digital Twin Development to join us in the School of Engineering.

You will join a diverse community of colleagues based in Newcastle in our newly renovated Stephenson Building. You will be a part of the NU-DICE Lab (Newcastle University Digital Innovation in Construction and Engineering Lab). You will be part of the WILSON Horizon Europe Project and coordinate the work with 15 EU partners.

You will take a leading role in developing and applying modules for federated digital twin technologies, including dashboards for visualising individual buildings and whole districts. You will connect various datasets and use cases (energy and non-energy services), and implement, in collaboration with our partners, federated data access mechanisms (IDS connectors and API). You will support the development of the use cases for energy and non-energy services by enabling data sharing and utilisation across various domains.

You will have access to one of the largest city-scale urban observatories, the Newcastle Urban Observatory, which you will use to demonstrate the federated digital twin approach developed in the WILSON project. You will attend and represent Newcastle University at all the project meetings across Europe.  You will also play a key role in helping the project team test the research outcomes in the WILSON living labs and large-scale pilots, including the local Newcastle Helix (https://www.ncl.ac.uk/who-we-are/helix/).

We are looking for candidates with knowledge and experience in digital twin development, data integration, dashboard development, and federated data management technologies, with the ability to apply these across building-, district-, and city-scale engineering use cases. We are particularly keen to hear from those with full-stack exposure and a passion for collaboration and the ability to interact and engage with a diverse network of partners. The role requires international travel within Europe to attend the project General Assembly Meeting (3 to 4 trips across the EU during the contract are expected).

We follow the Researcher Development Concordat: Researcher Development | Our Research | Newcastle University. We enable all colleagues to fulfil their research potential regardless of career stage. This commitment secures our thriving research culture and vibrant research environment. Our offer to each individual and their researcher development includes mentoring, annual research planning discussions, pooled research funding to support career development and research activities, peer review support for the development of research and innovation funding applications’

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of Research Innovation Role Profiles.pdf.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competencies and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and, secondly, the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Newcastle University is committed to the responsible use of research metrics as part of our research culture and research strategy. We advocate for the transparent, appropriate, and inclusive use of metrics, guided by expert judgment, to support high-quality, impactful research that is open, collaborative and sustainable. Click here for our full policy statement on the Responsible use of Research Metrics. Click here for a self-study e-learning module on the Responsible Use of Research Metrics.

Duration of this post is 21 months.

Please submit via the application link: an up-to-date CV and a supporting statement outlining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria. Links to relevant portfolios and GitHub repositories could be added to the CV or the supporting statement.

We want you to feel confident when applying for a position with Newcastle University. If you’d like an informal discussion to clarify any points, please contact Prof Mohamad Kassem ([email protected]) or Dr Xiang Xie ([email protected]). We are committed to making the process accessible to everyone and can provide additional support to adjustments to meet your needs’

For further details on the Faculty of Science, Agriculture & Engineering please visit our web page at: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sage/

Key Accountabilities

Research Assistant

• Support the development of interactive digital twin dashboards, visualisation tools and web-based interfaces


• Collect and curate BIM, GIS, IoT and operational built environment datasets from the project demonstration pilots within the Digital Twin platform


• Assist with integration of BIM visualisation (IFC processing), geospatial visualisation and integration of heterogeneous datasets


• Support real-time or near real-time visualisation workflows, including dashboards, heatmaps, spatial analytics and KPI visualisation


• Attend regular project update meetings, support meeting preparation and record actions where required


• Collect, analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes


• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, use problem solving to affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s)


• Present information on research progress and outcomes to a Principal Investigator or groups overseeing the research project


• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into the research project’s dissemination, in whatever form (report, papers, chapters, books)


• Use research resources (including, where required, laboratories, workshops and specialist equipment) as appropriate

Research Associate

• Lead the technical development of digital twin interfaces, dashboards and visualisation platforms for building, district and city-scale applications


• Design and implement BIM/GIS/IoT data integration workflows, including IFC, geospatial, semantic, time-series and operational datasets


• Develop federated digital twin approaches, including APIs, data access mechanisms, semantic interoperability workflows and data-sharing processes


• Determine appropriate technical and research methodologies, contributing original ideas to the project’s digital twin architecture and demonstrators


• Attend and contribute to regular project update meetings, including technical, consortium and partner meetings


• Contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of the project


• Determine appropriate methodologies for research


• Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations


• Contribute to the writing up of the research and its dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications


• Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline


• Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and develop own research objectives and proposals for funding

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

Research Assistant

• Experience of developing web-based digital twin interfaces, dashboards or visualisation platforms using relevant technologies such as JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Node.js, Three.js, Plotly.js, Chart.js or similar


• Knowledge of BIM, IFC, Open BIM, GIS and/or IoT data integration for built environment applications


• Experience of processing, managing and visualising heterogeneous datasets, including building, geospatial, sensor, time-series or operational data


• Experience of scripting and data processing using Python or similar languages, including data cleaning, API integration and visualisation


• Attention to detail and ability to work at high levels of accuracy


• Ability to present complex information effectively to a range of audiences


• Proven ability to analyse data and write-up results


• Experience of working collaboratively with colleagues


• Excellent IT skills in all major office applications


• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems

In addition for Research Associate

• Ability to lead or make substantial contributions to the technical development of interactive digital twin dashboards involving heteregeous types of federated data (e.g. BIM, GIS, IoT)


• Awareness of Data Spaces governance framework, semantic interoperability, and related research or innovation environments


• Awareness of the research environment


• High level of analytical and problem solving capacity


• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity


• Experience of presentations at conferences and/or in high quality publications

Attributes and Behaviour 

• Commitment to working positively as a member of a multi-skilled research team


• Ability to negotiate and prioritise multiple, competing responsibilities and to work to deadlines


• Commitment to continued professional development


• Understanding of good practice in equality, inclusion and diversity

Qualifications

Research Assistant 

• MSc or near-completion PhD in Building/Construction Informatics, Computing (Software Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science) or Engineering (Civil, Architectural Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical), or related fields

Research Associate 

• PhD in Building/Construction Informatics, Computing (Software Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science) or Engineering (Civil, Architectural Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical), or related fields

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29417

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