Doctoral student – Secondary materials from wood waste

The Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology (SBT) forms part of the Faculty of Forest Sciences, has about 50 employees, and is located in both Umeå and Uppsala. The department carries out high-quality research and under- and postgraduate education on a high international level and collaborates with society and industry to develop a bio-based economy where forest biomaterials are an important resource. The major focus in Umeå lies on value chains in the bio-based industry, where different components of forest biomaterials are collected, characterized, separated, modified / processed, used and re-used cost-effectively for different purposes while forest ecosystem services are managed sustainably. In Uppsala, the focus lies on wood science and technology with research and education on wood materials from nano to macro levels and with accredited testing of wood products and treatments for the market.

Background and goals:
Furniture and construction sectors are main contributors for the enormous wood waste generated in EU. Every year, million tons of wood furniture are discarded by businesses and consumers in the EU, the majority of which is destined for either landfill or incineration. The construction and demolition sector accounts to ~25-30% of all the wood waste generated in the EU. Circular economy interventions are acknowledged to have the potential to counter negative trends of the waste generation in these sectors while allowing value recovery. However, there is only a small activity in higher value circular flows and today’s recycling rate of wood waste is at very low levels. The current situation in wood waste recycling is characterized by size reduction downcycling in the particleboard industry, limited to a few material streams only. Promoting the valorisation of high amounts of wood waste fits well with relevant EU policies the recent years, such as the Roadmap for a Resource-Efficient Europe for a sustainable economy by 2050. This however requires to develop environmentally and economically sound methods of generating secondary raw materials from “end-of-life” wood products.

Work and duties:
The work involves the study of novel thermo-hydro-mechanical processing technologies for extracting secondary materials from different post-consumer wood panels, which are subsequently converted to valuable composite products via a two-fold valorisation approach: fibre reuse, and in the form of fines. Focus will be given on the quality of secondary materials for use in a variety of products and for optimising the technologies. Experiment design and process optimization will be done using statistical and Machine Learning techniques. Collaboration with leading producers of wood products is envisaged as well as with waste managers. The doctoral student combines both PhD-courses and practical research work. Lecturing and course management duties up to 20% of work time in the subject wood science and technology may be possible, with corresponding prolongation of employment time if needed.

Qualifications:
Students with a master’s degree in chemical engineering, fibre and polymer technology, wood technology or material science are eligible to apply for this position. Previous research experience of machine learning methods is a merit. Fluent English language, both in writing and speaking is required. Much emphasis in the evaluation of applications is placed on analytical and problem-solving capacity, motivation and ability to collaborate as well as work individually. Experiences of academic publication is seen as a merit.

Place of work:
Uppsala

Form of employment:
Temporary employment, 4 years

Extent:
100%

Starting date:
The position may start as agreed between both parties.

Application:
We welcome your application no later than 2022-02-18, use the button below.

An assessment and evaluation of applications is based on a written application that should contain a CV, thesis project report, possible additional publications, information about reference persons.

More information about SLU’s doctoral education is available at: https://www.slu.se/en/education/programmes-courses/doctoral-studies/

Academic union representatives:
https://internt.slu.se/en/my-employment/employee-associations/kontaktpersoner-vid-rekrytering/ 



The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is a world-class international university with research, education and environmental assessment within the sciences for sustainable life. Its principal sites are in Alnarp, Umeå and Uppsala, but activities are also conducted at research stations, experimental parks and educational establishments throughout Sweden. We bring together people who have different perspectives, but they all have one and the same goal: to create the best conditions for a sustainable, thriving and better world.

SLU has just over 3,000 employees, 5,000 students and a turnover of SEK 3 billion. The university has invested heavily in a modern, attractive environment on its campuses.

www.slu.se