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 in 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 characterize and develop new efficient hydrotreatment catalysts for processing lignin or other biomass-based feedstocks that will supply the project group with a suitable feedstock for further processing. The focus will be on in situ and operando studies of catalysts to achieve a detailed understanding of the properties of the active material. To gain fundamental knowledge about the chemical process, model catalysts will be synthesized and used. The simplified model studies will be performed in parallel to traditional studies of industrial applied catalysts. 

Work duties

The work is to a mostly experimental and will to some extent be performed in collaboration with the PhD student working on the development of lignin extraction technologies within the competence centra. Besides performing and planning in situ and operando characterization studies of the catalyst a the work will include designing and constructing a portable experimental setup optimized for operando studies of the catalytic hydrotreatment process that can be performed at synchrotrons or with lasers-based techniques. Typical techniques that will be used are XPS, XAFS, SEM/TEM, XRD, Raman and other laser diagnostics. 

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 include 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 the ability to work independently and formulate and tackle research problems.
3. Written and oral communication skills.
4. Other experience relevant to the third-cycle studies, e.g. professional experience.a

Other assessment criteria:

• Collaborative skills and the ability to communicate with researchers in other research fields.
• Merit for employment is a documented ability to work independently in research and problem-solving.
• Experience in analytical techniques for characterization of material structures using X-rays.
• Experience in working with spectroscopy.
• Knowledge of data evaluation programs such as Python or Matlab and Labview for experimental setup control is merit.
• Hands-on experimental experience is valued.

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.).