Doctoral student in Chemical Engineering (CESTAP) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Project

CESTAP (Competence cEntre in Sustainable Turbine fuels for Aviation and Power) is a newly established centre of competence including academic and industrial partners promoting production and use of sustainable fuels for stationary gas turbines and aviation jet engines. Academic and institute partners include Lund University, Luleå University and the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE). CESTAP is funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, with contributions from about 25 industrial partners and the mentioned academic partners.

Sustainable future energy use rely on a shift away from fossil fuels, which in some sectors can be done with new non-combustion technologies like batteries or fuel-cells. Still, in some sectors like aviation, maritime transport, and peak-load and back-up power generation, combustion will be difficult to replace. These sectors rely relatively heavy on continuous combustion engines like gas turbines and jet engines, and they together currently contribute with close to 10% of the global anthropogenic CO2 release.

At LTH, the technical faculty at Lund University, five PhD students are now recruited for projects related to production and use of sustainable fuels for aviation and gas turbines. The successfull candidates with work in a dynamic team with researchers from several institutions at LTH and participate in graduate student courses and activities together with PhD students from the partner universities and institutes.

Subject description

Research at the department is focused mainly on resource-efficient technologies for sustainable development, and is carried out in collaboration with other national and international research groups and companies. Scientists at our department have long experience of pretreatment methods, as well as biotechnological and thermo­chemical reactions, separation processes and the design of processes for the production of chemicals, fuels and other materials from biomass. 

Lignin is an underutilized component of biomass that will be further processed by other groups in the project and converted into suitable fuel components for gas turbines. The research task in this project will be to develop lignin extraction technologies which will supply the project group with a suitable lignin feedstock for further processing.  In addition to extraction techniques processes applicable in biorefinery processing will be developed. Hydrotropic extraction in combination with steam explosion is one such technology which has shown promising results but which need further development to realise its full potential. Similar technologies are based on lignin extraction with GVL which is a green solvent produced from biomass. 

Work duties

The work is to to a large extent experimental and will be to some extent performed in collaboration with the PhD student working on catalysis on a more fundamental level within the competens centra. Besides working with processes which are similar to what is found in the pulping industry, a significant part of the work will be devoted towards analytical techniques in order to characterize the starting material and the products formed. Typical techniques are  HPLC, LC-MS, GC and NMR.

The main duties of doctoral students are to devote themselves to their research studies which includes participating in research projects and third cycle courses. The work duties will also teaching and other departmental duties (no more than 20%).

Admission requirements 

A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if the applicant: 

• has been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

A person meets the specific admission requirements for third cycle studies in Chemical Engineering if the applicant has: 

• a specialised project of at least 30 second-cycle credits in the subject. 

Additional requirements:

• Very good oral and written proficiency in English.

Assessment criteria

Selection for third-cycle studies is based on the student’s potential to profit from such studies. The assessment of potential is made primarily on the basis of academic results from the first and second cycle. Special attention is paid to the following: 

1. Knowledge and skills relevant to the thesis project and the subject of study.
2. An assessment of ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems.
3. Written and oral communication skills.
4. Other experience relevant to the third-cycle studies, e.g. professional experience.

Other assessment criteria:

• Collaborative skills and the ability to communicate with researchers in other research fields.
• Merit for the employment is a documented ability to work independently in research and problem solving of chemical engineering problems as well as an understanding of how different processes in a process design affect each other.
• Experience of analytical techniques for characterization of lignocellulosic raw materials and the formed products from the process

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant, through his or her experience and skills, is deemed to have the abilities necessary for successfully completing the third cycle programme.

Terms of employment 

Only those admitted to third cycle studies may be appointed to a doctoral studentship. Third cycle studies at LTH consist of full-time studies for 4 years. A doctoral studentship is a fixed-term employment of a maximum of 5 years (including 20% departmental duties). Doctoral studentships are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), chapter 5, 1-7 §§.

Instructions on how to apply

Applications shall be written in English and include a cover letter stating the reasons why you are interested in the position and in what way the research project corresponds to your interests and educational background. The application must also contain a CV, degree certificate or equivalent, and other documents you wish to be considered (grade transcripts, contact information for your references, letters of recommendation, etc.).