Organic Synthetic Chemist (Postdoc): CO2 conversion to solids: Increase Sustainability by Transforming Waste Materials to New, Valuable Products – DTU

From fundamental understanding of the interactions of water, gas and organic compounds with natural materials, we are developing a fast, cheap, environmentally friendly way to mineralise CO2, to make it stable for millennia. We are building a cross disciplinary team of students and scientists. We are searching for enthusiastic members.
From fundamental understanding of the interactions of water, gas and organic compounds with natural materials, we are developing a fast, cheap, environmentally friendly way to mineralise CO2, to make it stable for millennia. We are building a cross disciplinary team of students and scientists. We are searching for enthusiastic members.

As a result of recently funded projects, we are building a cross disciplinary research group. We are looking for an expert in organic chemistry and synthesis at Postdoctoral Fellow level.

Our goals are to develop a local method for mineralising CO2, to convert it back to solid, where it will remain stable on the long term. Even with the very best alternative energy sources and conversion of CO2 into products, current air and ocean CO2 levels will need 1,000 to 10,000 years to return to preindustrial levels. To reduce climate change and ocean acidification, CO2 must be converted to solid and put back into the Earth, where it came from in the first place.

At DTU Physics, we are running several projects in parallel, that range from very fundamental investigations of mineral-organic compound-water-gas properties, through developing predictive models and new experimental methods and instrumentation, to applying research results and designing an industrial CO2 trapping processes. The need is urgent, the task is challenging, and a multidisciplinary approach is essential - so our highly motivated team includes students and senior scientists: chemists, physicists, nanoscientists, materials scientists, mineralogists, geoscientists, engineers and others.

The job
We expect that your background in organic chemistry and molecule synthesis will contribute to the efforts of our cross disciplinary team, for whom the aim is to understand solid-fluid (water and gas) interactions with natural materials and the effect of organic compounds on them. The team will merge data from traditional techniques with results from state-of-the-art, ultrahigh resolution instruments and modelling at scales ranging from atoms to meters. Our goals are to gain very fundamental, new knowledge about how nature works and to apply it in a reactor, to convert CO2 and waste solids to a valuable product for use in new, low CO2 construction materials.

Our expectations of you
We are looking for a curious, enthusiastic colleague who has an interest in nature, enjoys solving problems and working together, to meet the projects’ goals. We expect you to have a PhD and a solid background in chemistry.

Flexibility is essential. We are looking for a team player who can also work independently, who is motivated to help make, and be part of, a dynamic research environment and who has a positive, supportive and creative outlook. We expect you to have good communication and personal interaction skills and to be fluent in English.

We offer
DTU is among the leading technical universities of Europe and the top in the Nordic countries. The CO2 projects we plan will unite researchers from several DTU departments as well as national and international researchers from a number of fields. The atmosphere in the research group is friendly and supportive, allowing us to produce groundbreaking results, of interest to science and essential for industry. Our mission is to derive new fundamental understanding and use it to solve society’s problems. Our aim at a startup is well supported by DTU’s focus on technology for people.

Salary and appointment terms
Appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Salary will be determined by the applicant’s qualifications and in agreement with the relevant union.

You will be employed as a postdoc. The position is full time. It starts as soon as possible and is for 2 years.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

The workplace is the DTU Lyngby Campus.

Further information
For questions, contact Prof. Susan Stipp, [email protected].

You can read more about DTU Physics at www.fysik.dtu.dk.

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark.

Application and contact
Submit your online application no later than Monday, 29 July 2024 (23:59 Danish time). Open the “Apply now” link, fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. To be considered for this position, you must include all requested parts. This includes:

• a cover letter (1 or 2 pages) explaining how you are perfect for the position, using your background as examples; include a few words about your perspectives on teaching and research;
• your CV, including employment history, research and teaching experience with dates, scientific highlights, ORCID identifier and other relevant information about you as a scientist and a person;
• publication list in proper reference list format; mark as many as 5 articles that you consider to represent your best work and write 2 or 3 lines for each of these, describing why you chose these papers (do not include the actual papers in your application);
• your course list and grades from your university education; we do not require an official translation to English at this stage, your honest translation is fine for the selection process;
• the name, email and phone number for 3 personal references (do not include letters of reference).

Please combine all parts of your application into a single pdf file and upload that under “CV”.

Applications sent by email or submitted online after the deadline cannot be considered. Applications must be made through the official submission site.

All interested candidates, irrespective of gender, age, race, disability, religion and ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

Technology for people
DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear vision to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That vision lives on today. DTU has 13,500 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.

Adresse:

Fysikvej
2800 Kgs. Lyngby