The University of Edinburgh
Earth Fellow: Repowering in the Orkney Islands
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Grade UE07: £41,064 - £48,822 per annum, pro-rata as part-time
Edinburgh Earth Initiative / Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Part-time: 9 hours per week
Fixed-term: for nine months from September 2026
Earth Fellowships are only open to current postgraduate and PhD students at the University of Edinburgh based in the UK. Please do not apply if you will not be an on-campus University of Edinburgh student in the ‘26/’27 academic year.
The Opportunity:
The School of Geosciences and School of Social and Political Science are looking for a PhD student to explore the barriers and opportunities that arise when communities need to repower (upgrade or replace) renewable energy infrastructure. This 9-month project focuses on the experiences of the Orkney Islands archipelago.
This post will be appointed at Grade UE07, step 1 which is £41,064 per annum, pro-rata (£22.50 per hour).
As an Earth Fellow, you will be joining a diverse, fun and dynamic team of researchers, students and staff all working together to address the global climate emergency. As part of the Earth Fellows programme, you will have access to co-working space, exciting networking and personal development opportunities and opportunities to contribute towards partnerships and solutions for climate change on a global scale.
Earth Fellows work on individual and team-based projects which contribute to the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Earth Initiative’s work on climate change research-led impact, innovation, engagement, and teaching.
Please refer to the project brief and the skills listed below when outlining your skills and experience in your application.
Click here to view the full project brief for the Earth Fellow: repowering the Orkney Islands, including key tasks and deliverables
[https://uoe.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/jobdescriptionlibrary/IQAVlv9_YHIvQ5aQkhZGRIDKAVuE8vtBGmajOTMJj62FxAw](opens browser in new tab).
Your skills and attributes for success:
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- Current University of Edinburgh PhD student in the ‘26/’27 academic year.
- Interest in the social and technical considerations of upgrading or replacing aging renewable energy infrastructure for communities such as those on the Orkney Islands.
- Experience running research projects alongside communities, for example with disseminating surveys and running semi-structured interviews.
- Experience with documentary analysis.
- Excellent communication skills including the ability to communicate complex information clearly, both in writing and in oral presentations.
- Ability to work proactively with colleagues and external collaborators with a variety of expertise; understanding and valuing different points of view.
- Willingness to act as a tutor on the MSc fieldtrip to the Orkney Islands in April 2027 (not essential)
Click here to view the general Earth Fellow job description
[https://uoe.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/jobdescriptionlibrary/IQB-sq-A8M94QrZpzydPn1gsAXCTeRuHnYZV7kNKsGDjv1I](opens browser in new tab).
As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
- An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work alongside the Edinburgh Earth Initiative team and Earth Fellows community which includes postgraduate and PhD students as well as the wider student community, academics, professional services, and global partners working on climate and environmental change.
- Support, nurture your talent and reward success.
You will benefit from a competitive reward package and a wide range of staff benefits, which includes a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, flexible working and much more. Click to access our staff benefits page
[https://human-resources.ed.ac.uk/pay-reward/staff-benefits](opens new browser tab) for further information and use our reward calculator to find out the total value of pay and benefits provided.
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The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages
[https://human-resources.ed.ac.uk/demonstrating-rtw](opens new browser tab).
Key dates to note
- The closing date for applications is 6th August 2026.
- Unless stated otherwise, the closing time for applications is 11:59 pm GMT (UK time). If you are applying from outside the UK, the closing time shown on our adverts will automatically adjust to your browser’s local time zone.
- Interviews will be held in August.
#LI-DNI
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
Launched in 2022, the Edinburgh Earth Initiative was established by the University’s Executive with a cross institutional remit to drive a step change in the University’s engagements with climate and sustainability challenges.
In 2024, a strategic review of Edinburgh Earth Initiative was completed and the results of that review, including a strategy for 2025-2030, were approved by the University Executive. The strategy states that the mission of EEI is to catalyse bold, globally significant transdisciplinary research, innovation and partnerships at the University in support of the Research & Innovation Strategy 2030 and Climate Strategy.
Edinburgh Earth Initiative Website
https://earth.ed.ac.uk/ (opens in new browser tab)
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