MSCA PhD student in Computational Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry - Ångström conducts research and education in the chemistry field. The department has more than 270 employees and has a turnover of 290 million SEK. At the department's six programs, we conduct very successful research of a high international standard. We have a large number of externally funded research projects, often with international cooperation and we see continued good growth in our subject area. The department has education assignments in engineering programs and master's programs. More information is available on our website. 

The work will be carried out within the Computational Materials Chemistry group and in close collaboration with experimental activities at the Ångström Advanced Battery Centre (ÅABC – https://kemi.uu.se/angstrom/research/structural-chemistry/aabc), which are both parts of the Structural Chemistry program at Uppsala University.

The PhD project focuses on Multiscale modelling of ion transport and interfacial phenomena in Li-metal polymer batteries and is a part of RIDERS which is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie funded doctoral network with the goal to train 10 Doctoral candidates (DCs). RIDERS research and training program rely on the multidisciplinary expertise of 10 internationally renowned academic beneficiaries and 8 industrial partners (including 3 SMEs) originating from 7 European countries. Please visit the RIDERS webpage for more information.

Duties
We are looking for a motivated and ambitious student for theoretical studies of ion transport in solid-state battery materials. For this purpose, the main focus is to develop and apply multiscale modelling methodology to help understand the processes involved in the challenges and electrochemical bottlenecks of Li-metal polymer batteries. This involves modelling of surface and bulk chemical processes for Li-metal batteries based on DFT, semi-empirical methods, MD simulations and FEM cell modelling. See the D03 project webpage for more details.

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 can also include teaching and other departmental duties (no more than 20%). 

Requirements

The candidate must have:

• been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle and 15 credits are an individual project, or
• acquired essentially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad
• degree or equivalent as above in Chemistry, Physics or Materials Science
• experience of using computational tools for materials modelling.
• very good oral and written proficiency in English.

Focus will be also be on soft values, such as cooperation skills, ability to take initiative and independence. 

Special eligability requirements for Doctoral Candidates funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme:

• The applicant recruited in a DN must be a doctoral candidate (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment). Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible.
• The applicants should not have lived or worked in the country where they are being recruited for more than 12 months in the past 3 years. This does not include national service, holidays, or time spent as part of a refugee status application. Indeed, for refugees under the Geneva Convention (1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol), the refugee procedure (i.e. before refugee status is conferred) will not be counted as ‘period of residence/activity in the country of the recruiting beneficiary’

Additional qualifications
A background within material science is desired, with Physics and/or Chemistry specialization. Experience of electrochemistry and batteries is valuable as is a vast experience of different modelling techniques. 

About the employment
The RIDERS recruitment process will be open, transparent, impartial and equitable in accordance with the provisions of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers and ensuring that no conflict of interest exists in or arises from the recruitment. The selection of the applicants will be made on the basis of their scientific skills and the relevance of their research experience and academic background, the impact of the proposed training on their researcher’s career and a fair gender representation, according to the following notation criteria: Academic background, Scientific background, Soft skills and Mobility.

The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 2024-09-01 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

For further information about the position, please contact: Amber Mace (amber.mace@kemi.uu.se) or Daniel Brandell (daniel.brandell@kemi.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 31st of May, UFV-PA 2024/1447.

Are you considering moving to Sweden to work at Uppsala University? Find out more about what it´s like to work and live in Sweden.