PhD student position in Catalysis for sustainable chemistry

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering promotes research and education for sustainable development, for improved health and quality of life. Our research ranges from natural science and bioscience, applied chemistry and biotechnology to chemical engineering. Our educational programs are characterized by technological solutions for improving people’s everyday life, and are continuously developed for meeting and promoting societal and industrial development.

We have approximately 400 employees, divided into five research divisions and one administrative unit. We are situated at campus Johanneberg.

Our department is characterized by stimulation of world leading research, in an environment where people develop and create new knowledge.Information about the research project and the division
The Competence Centre for Catalysis (KCK) is since 1995 a successful interdisciplinary research centre within catalysis at Chalmers. KCK is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, Chalmers and the member companies; AB Volvo, ECAPS AB, Haldor Topsøe A/S, Scania CV AB and Volvo Car Corporation AB. The activity at KCK is focused on three main areas of research namely i) catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) under lean conditions, ii) catalytic oxidation at low temperatures and iii) catalytic techniques for sustainable energy systems. The activity at KCK is closely integrated with the four research groups at Chalmers; Chemical Physics, Microscopy and Microanalysis, Applied Surface Chemistry and Chemical Reaction Engineering at the Departments of Applied Physics, and Chemical and Biological Engineering. KCK comprises 15 senior researchers, and 25 PhD students and postdocs with equal distribution between male and females.

The PhD student project will be one part of a new research project entitled "Time-resolved in situ methods for design of catalytic sites within sustainable chemistry". Several Swedish and German research groups from Chalmers, Lund University, Paderborn University, MAX IV Laboratory and Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) will be invloved in the project. 

The PhD position concerns synthesis of new catalyst materials and advanced in situ characterisation of the working catalysts for the reduction of CO2. One scientific key-question is to identify the catalysts' active sites during reaction by employing state-of-the-art X-ray based methods at the international large-scale research facilities MAX IV Laboratory and PETRA III. The position also involves construction of new novel experimental equipment for transient in situ spectroscopic studies of catalysts at Chalmers. Through these methods deep understanding of the materials functionality will be achieved paving the way for atomistic design of new catalysts.

Major responsibilities
The PhD position involves research, own courses and department duties (usually teaching). Specifically the research project involves: synthesis of new catalyst materials using various wet-chemical methods; to design and to carry out experimental studies for analysis of catalytic activity/selectivity; development of advanced infrared spectroscopy methods; carry out advanced in situ characterisation experiments using X-ray based methods (XAS, XES, HEXRD, HPXPS) at international synchtrotron facilities; interact with other researchers/groups in the project; critial literature reviews and communication of results in written as well as orally.

Position summary
The doctoral studies include research and own cources, corresponding to 60 hec whereof 10 hec in generic skills, and the position is limited to four years. In addition, the position also includes department duties (about 5%) which usually is teaching at undergraduate level, i.e., as assistant in laboratory work and supervision of master thesis students.

Qualifications
Mandatory education: M.Sc. degree or similar before April 1, 2014, in Chemistry, Physics or Materials Science.

The undergraduates are normally taught in Swedish, although the graduate level teaching is in English. Thus good language skills are required. Applicants who do not have Swedish as native language should be able to teach in Swedish after two years of employment.? Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Meritious skills: Experience in chemical synthesis and/or nanofabrication methods; Experience in experimental spectroscopic and/or scattering methods; Programming and visualization;

Application deadline: 2014-01-17

For questions, please contact:
Assocociate Professor Per-Anders Carlsson
Applied Surface Chemistry/Competence Centre for Catalysis
E-mail: per-anders.carlsson@chalmers.se
+46 (0)31-772 2924

Professor Magnus Skoglundh
Applied Surface Chemistry/Competence Centre for Catalysis
E-mail: skoglund@chalmers.se
+46 (0)31-772 2974



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