PhD student position in Biobased materials for agriculture

Publiceringsdatum: 2024-08-30

Letar du efter en chans att arbeta som doktorand på Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB? Nu är det möjligt. Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB söker en medarbetare på heltid som vill arbeta 6 månader eller längre. Kan det vara du? Göteborg är platsen där denna position är ledig.

Om du tycker att det låter intressant att börja jobba hos Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB i rollen som doktorand så har de just nu en ledig tjänst som skulle kunna vara en perfekt match för dig! Har du vad som krävs för att arbeta som doktorand hos Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB? Ansök innan måndag den trettionde september 2024 och ta reda på det!

Jobbannons

This role offers a unique opportunity to tackle the critical challenge of adapting agricultural materials to reduce the use of non-degradable plastic and to decrease the use of chemical pesticides to 50% by 2030. As a PhD student, you will engage in pioneering research on the use of PHA as novel generation of biobased and biodegradable polymers for agricultural materials. This project tackles the reduction of agrochemicals and plastics pollution using PHAs. The student will develop (formulate, process and make sample preparation) of two families of delivery systems (mulch films and growth foams) based on PHAs containing active bioproducts (amino acids & hydrolyzed proteins, microelements, elicitors and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria -PGPR) instead of synthetic agrochemicals.

Project description

The project will implement cutting-edge integrated material development based on PHAs polymers to create solution for delivery systems in the agricultural market. The project is part of a large Horizon Europe initiative involving 15 partners including universities, research organization and industry from seven countries.

The project will take place at the Department of Life sciences (LIFE) and the Division of Industrial Biotechnology (IndBio) under the supervision of Assistant Professor Amparo Jiménez Quero. IndBio is an interdisciplinary division with around 45 international researchers focusing on microbiology, enzymology, molecular biology, biobased materials and circularity. Our goal is to use renewable resources for sustainable production of fuels, chemicals, and materials, contributing to a sustainable society and circular economy.

LIFE consists of 5 divisions, and here you find potential collaborators as well as a range of scientific instruments, expertise and lab infrastructure. Morevoer, the PhD student will be co-supervise by Prof. Lars Evenäs at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and by Assoc. Prof. Giada Lo Re at the Department of Industrial Materials Science.

Major responsibilities

As PhD student the main time of your working appointment is devoted to your research project, where you will be responsible for planing, running experiments and evaluation the scientific outcome. You are also expected to communicate your results in different settings, group and division meetings at Chalmers but also external events as workshop and conferences. You are also expected to develop scientific writing skills by the preparation of articles for publication in high impact journals and actively participate in international conferences. Moreover, you will also contribute to teaching and supervision of undergraduate students.

Read more about doctoral studies at Chalmers here.

Qualifications

The most important qualifications is your desire to devotedly work with research. The successful candidate must have a master degree in Chemistry, Materials Science, Biotechnology, Chemical engineering, Polymer Technology, or equivalent. Laboratory experience in biobased polymers, melt processing, surface and colloid chemistry. Good communication in English verbal and written is required.

To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a relevant field.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Contract terms

Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

We offer

Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 

Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure

The application should be marked with reference number 20240476 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, reference number)

• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, ref.number)

1-3 pages where you:

• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:

• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered.

Application deadline: 2024-09-30

For questions, please contact:

Assistant Professor Amparo Jimenez-Quero,

amparo@chalmers.se

Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international level. The university has 3100 employees and 10,000 students, and offers education in engineering, science, shipping and architecture. With scientific excellence as a basis, Chalmers promotes knowledge and technical solutions for a sustainable world. Through global commitment and entrepreneurship, we foster an innovative spirit, in close collaboration with wider society.

Chalmers was founded in 1829 and has the same motto today as it did then: Avancez – forward.