Postdoc fellowship in Sustainable Wood materials and adhesive development

The Faculty of Technology offers a broad spectrum of activities across nine different departments and is central to the technical education and research conducted at Linnaeus University. The Department of Forest and Wood Technology offers wide-ranging thematic activities from the forest seedling to the finished wood product. Benefits for the climate arising from forests lie at the centre of all department activities. Based on this theme, the department meets societal challenges whilst contributing to two of the Linnaeus Knowledge Environments: Green sustainable development and Advanced materials.

The Bridge is a multidisciplinary research and education collaboration between Linnaeus University and IKEA. The programme focuses on big challenges related to Life at Home. The vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people.  Affordability, accessibility and circularity are the long-term strategies towards this vision. The Bridge is a programme for entrepreneurship, innovation, and production. The aim is to create a “challenge-based” international research hub, to bring breakthrough innovations that solves major problems for a sustainable life at home.  

Field of subject for the position: Postdoc fellowship in Sustainable Wood Panels for Furniture with focus in Green Adhesives.

Placement: Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of Technology, Växjö, Sweden.

Extent and period: Start date of employment is 2021-03-01, for duration of two (2) years. Extent is 100%.

Context of position:
In order to cope with increasing consumer awareness, legal requirements and alarming climate change, innovative advancements in the wood-based panel production are needed to reduce fossil-fuel dependency and negative health impacts of formaldehyde used in current binders. Thus, there is a big interest towards more eco-friendly adhesives, which however the industry has found difficult to introduce due to issues relating mainly with performance, costs and appropriate cross-linking. There are many promising feedstock materials for wood panel adhesives such as lignins, proteins, and starches. Their valorisation in wood panel adhesives is needed to achieve a sustainable economy and to reduce carbon footprint.

The aim will be to develop wood panel adhesives of the future based on emerging feedstock materials, with a focus on solving the relevant crucial parameters for their application in the wood industry: crosslinking, performance, production speed. This requires a strong academic to real problems approach with the mission to bring in-depth knowledge and new capabilities for transforming biomaterials into adhesives for the industry.   

The project is of interdisciplinary nature, and a successful fellow is expected to link activities within the Master program Innovation through business, engineering and design along the value chain of modern fibre-based products for furniture: sourcing for renewable materials, conditions of their use as adhesives, design and performance of products, sustainability and circularly of products.

The working tasks consist mainly of research in Wood Panels and Green Adhesives.

Other duties can be:


• Conduct independent scientific research in the laboratory and at the industry
• Collaborate with scientists at the Department of Mechanical Engineering on issues relating with the prediction of the performance of the new products as compared with existing commercial ones 
• Establish and keep close co-operation with main actors within the project, i.e. The Bridge, and IKEA as the stakeholder representing the needs of the  industry for more sustainable furniture products
• Create links with leading research groups at international level to further propel the area of bio-based adhesives
• Co-author manuscripts to refereed journals

In your job you are expected to actively participate in the department's environment and network both internally and externally.

Up to 10 % of the work can include teaching and tutoring in the Innovation Master program as well as in undergraduate and graduate programs of the Department.  

Qualification requirements:
Qualified for appointment is the one who holds a PhD in Polymer Science and Technology, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, Wood Technology or an equivalent degree in a related field, or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD, and who have completed their degree no more than three years before the application deadline.

Applicants must not have previously been employed as a postdoctoral fellow for more than a year in the same or related subject area at Linnaeus University.

To be eligible for this position is also required ability to speak and write in English.

Assessment criteria:
Qualifying otherwise is:


• Research experience on any of the above mentioned fields with focus on bio-based adhesives, crosslinkers, and wood panels
• Publications in relevant research area in peer-reviewed journals
• Knowledge and industrial experience on different supply chains of bio-based raw materials and their transformation into valuable products such as wood adhesives
• Ability to undertake a research project and meet strict deadlines
• Team player willing to work with others and interact with leading academic groups in Sweden and abroad

The holder of a postdoc position is assumed to have the ability to carry out research within the described area. The work is performed in a research group where teamwork and flexibility are considered of a high importance.

Applicants will be evaluated through a qualitative overall assessment of their competences and skills by following the before mentioned order of qualifications from 1 to 5. For the final selection, suitable applicants will be asked to attend an interview. 

Further information: 

Professor: Stergios Adamopoulos, tel: 0470 76 75 47, E-post stergios.adamopoulos@lnu.se

Head of department: Jimmy Johansson, tel: 0470 70 80 33, E-post: jimmy.johansson@lnu.se