PhD student position in Environmental Catalysis

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 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.

Major responsibilities
A PhD student position is now available within KCK. The PhD student project is focused on deactivation of oxidation and SCR catalysts for after-treatment systems for mobile applications. Of special interest is to elucidate fundamental deactivation mechanisms for the two different types of environmental catalysts in connection with the use of sustainable fuels. Scientific key-questions on the role of solid-gas phase interactions and surface reactions on the deactivation will experimentally be addressed using modern reactor methods and material characterization techniques. The understanding of the deactivation mechanisms achieved in the project will be utilized in the design of next generation environmental catalysts for mobile applications.

The PhD student project is one part of a new research project in which research groups from KCK, the Royal Institute of Technology, AB Volvo, Scania CV AB and Haldor Topsøe A/S participate. The position is placed at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. The PhD student position involves research, own courses and teaching. The research project involves synthesis of new catalyst materials, design and execution of experimental studies for analysis of catalytic activity and selectivity, construction of a new reactor system for catalyst deactivation, catalyst characterization, interaction with other researchers/groups in the project, critical literature reviews, and communication in written as well as orally. The doctoral studies include own courses (60 hec) whereof 10 hec in generic skills. The teaching (about 5%) is mainly carried out as assistant in laboratory courses at undergraduate level and supervision of master thesis students.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of four years and three months.

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in Chemistry, Physics or Materials Science by the start of the appointment.

Mandatory skills for the position are: 

- Good ability to communicate the scientific results in English, both orally and in writing.
- Quality-conscious. 
- Good ability to plan and organize the work. 
- Problem-solving attitude. 
- Ability to work in teams.
 
Meritorious skills are: 
- Experience in spectroscopy and scattering methods for surface characterization.

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.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20140073 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically via Chalmers webpage.

Application deadline: March 16, 2014

For questions, please contact:
Prof. Magnus Skoglundh Applied Chemistry/Competence Centre for Catalysis, skoglund@chalmers.se, +46-31-772 2974
Assoc. Prof. Per-Anders Carlsson, Applied Chemistry/Competence Centre for Catalysis, per-anders.carlsson@chalmers.se, 772 2924




Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.