PhD student in materials science for green hydrogen production

High temperature electrolysis (SOEC) is the most efficient technique to produce the large amounts of hydrogen needed to decarbonize hard to abate sectors. Be a part of that transition in a team that is leading in the field of metallic materials for SOFC/SOEC. Our work spans from fundamental studies to applied work in close cooperation with industry where your research will have a real world impact.

Information about the division and the department
To meet the challenges of tomorrow's energy demands, the research at the division of Energy & Materials at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering studies materials for a broad range of energy applications. One of our focus areas is materials for aggressive high temperature process environments.

At Chalmers, we offer an international research environment in the heart of Scandinavia. Here you find a friendly work environment with all the benefits of a Swedish university. We offer an employment with a competitive salary including benefits like at least 28 days of financed vacation, parental leave, health insurance etc. The employment is limited to a maximum of five years.

Materials performance is one of the key barriers inhibiting the transition towards a more sustainable energy system. Material related problems limit lifetimes and reduce efficiencies, adversely affecting plant economy and consequently the spread of green energy. For our research on metallic materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC) we have currently open positions for PhD students.

SOFCs are high-temperature (>600°C), high efficiency electrochemical energy conversion devices that can operate on a broad range of fuels to produce electricity. SOEC is the reverse process that allows the production of hydrogen or other chemical with outstanding efficiency. The advancement of the technology has however been hindered by a number of technical and economic barriers, many of those hinders are related to the metallic interconnects that connect individual cells. We investigate the relevant degradation mechanism and work on coatings to increase the lifetime of the interconnects.

Major responsibilities
The majority of your working time is devoted to your own research. The details of your PhD project will be continuously defined by the project team consisting of you and the supervisors with input from industry partners. Hands-on laboratory work will be a large part of your duties and as a PhD student you are expected to develop and implement your own ideas.

In our daily work, it is vital for us to link well controlled laboratory exposures, thermodynamic calculations and advanced microstructural investigations with the practical experience of our industry partners. We work with state of the art analytical electron and ion microscope, including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) using high-resolution FEG-SEMs equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) detectors. To analyze the specimens in more detail, we furthermore employ transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) milling.  
The undergraduate courses are normally taught in Swedish, although the graduate level teaching is in English. Thus, applicants who do not have Swedish as their native language should have the goal to learn Swedish to a level where you can teach undergraduate students during your PhD employment.
The PhD position usually includes 10-20% departmental work, mostly teaching of undergraduate students in labs or exercises. The starting date is flexible.

Qualifications
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. Good grades are meriting but not a formal requirement. The most important qualification is a true interest in science and a strong motivation to do research.

Your master degree should ideally be from the fields of chemistry or materials science. However, a degree in other topics such as physics or mechanical engineering could also be a suitable background.

Good communication and teamwork skills will be central to successfully complete your PhD studies. This might include discussions on the optimization of experimental setups in collaboration with our workshop, coordinating post-analysis with other partners, as well as communicating your findings both orally at scientific conferences and project meetings with industry partners and in writing in scientific journals.

If you describe yourself as a self-driven person who is curious in researching a topic in depth in combination with enjoying practical lab work then you are an excellent candidate in our team.

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.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20230278 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, Ref. 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.

Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Application deadline: [2023-05-21]



For questions, please contact:
Jan Froitzheim, Biträdande professor
jan.froitzheim@chalmers.se, +46317722858

Jan Erik Svensson, Professor
jes@chalmers.se, +46317722863