WISE Postdoctoral position in Nanotechnology and Functional materials, with focus on functional biopolymer materials

WISE Postdoctoral position in Nanotechnology and Functional materials, with focus on functional biopolymer materials

Full-time temporary position for two years starting as soon as possible or as agreed upon

Would you like to be a part of the WISE – Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability? Are you interested in working with the valorization of biopolymers into advanced materials for groundwater, soil and sediments remediation, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? If so, we welcome you to apply for a post-doctoral position with a focus on the development of functional biopolymer-based materials for pollutants mitigation at Uppsala University.

Join us!

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering aims to be an environment for successful and valuable research and education with a focus on materials science solutions for important societal challenges. Our department is an exciting workplace with research in a broad technology-related area, from basic research to large-scale applied research, and with close contacts with students through the department's involvement in engineering and master's programs. Our research and teaching are conducted within seven divisions with different research focus.

Read more about us here

About the division
The Division of Nanotechnology and Functional Materials is part of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ångström Laboratory. At the division, we conduct research within functional porous materials for energy and environmental applications, nano biomaterials, sustainable electrical energy storage and energy transformations, functionalization of electrode surfaces for catalytic applications, additive manufacturing of pharmaceutical materials, microsensors for in vivo usage and sustainable materials from biomass. Researchers here thus have extensive experience in the functionalization of biomaterials, biocompatibility, diagnostics, additive manufacturing, organic energy storage, nanosafety and the development and characterization of functional porous materials.

Find more information here

Project description
Wallenberg Initiative Material Science for Sustainability (WISE) is a new research program of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the largest-ever investment in materials science in Sweden. WISE aims to create conditions for a sustainable society by researching the next generation of eco-friendly materials and manufacturing processes, including the facilitation of better technologies for future materials to combat pollution and toxic emissions. Read more about WISE here.

The project is about the development of nanostructured materials, with a keen focus on 3D architectures such as foams, membranes, and others from a variety of biomass-derived polymers. These polymers, sourced from marine, agricultural, and food biomass, represent a renewable and eco-friendly feedstock that align with the principles of green chemistry and sustainability. The core of the research endeavor is not only to synthesize these innovative materials but also to strategically modify them by introducing functional groups and ligands. Such modifications are aimed at enhancing the materials' capabilities to selectively adsorb and remove a wide spectrum of organic and inorganic contaminants from water, soil and sediments. This combination of the design of advanced materials with chemical functionalization is a promising way to advance current water remediation technologies.

The project involves close collaboration between us at the division and the Air, Water and Landscape Science Program (LUVAL) at the Department of Earth Sciences at Uppsala University. The linkage to cross-cutting environments and programs provides a unique opportunity for access to knowledge and infrastructure of both departments, and opens possibilities to broadly collaborate with other research groups in Materials Sciences and Engineering, Earth Sciences and within the WISE initiative through active participation in workshops and conferences organized by WISE and as a member of the WISE Graduate School.

The Department of Earth Sciences, in particular the LUVAL research program, has a long tradition of research on contaminant transport, transport phenomena and remediation studies related to soil, groundwater and sediments, including close collaboration with partners in industry and society. The Department’s activities are interdisciplinary and combine natural science and technology with social science. For more information read here.

Duties
The work duties include synthesis and characterization (e.g., thermal analysis, spectroscopy, chromatography, electron microscopy) of biopolymer-based materials; functionalization of biopolymer-based materials by chemical modification with functional groups and/or functional ligands; testing of materials for sorption-related applications that are within our current research areas, such as PFAS sorption and other organic and inorganic water contaminants.

In addition to research, some participation in the supervision of doctoral students, master's students and project students, as well as communication of research results through scientific articles in well-established scientific journals and presentations at international conferences, are also included as important aspects of the employment. Some participation in teaching may also be included. You are also expected to contribute to applications for external research funds.

Requirements
To qualify for an employment on a postdoctoral position you must have a doctoral degree or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Those who have obtained a PhD degree three years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point of the three-year frame period is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labor unions, etc.

This position requires a Doctoral degree in Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, or similar, or a degree equivalent to these.

We also require documented knowledge and experience of polymer-based materials, such as foams, hydrogels, aerogels, membranes, or other types of porous polymers; polymer modification and material characterization techniques (NMR, SEC, IR).

We require very good oral and written skills in English, as well as excellent knowledge of scientific writing.

Read more about the Postdoctoral position, rules and regulations at the Swedish Agency for Government Employers here. (Only in Swedish).

Additional qualifications
It will be an advantage with experience in one or more of the following fields:

Spectroscopy (DLS, XPS), thermal analysis, electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), analytical methods of water pollutants detection (HPLC, ICP, spectrophotometry); organic synthesis; surface modification and composite synthesis; solid phase extraction of organic and/or inorganic species; science visualization skills (OriginLab, 3D rendering, etc).

We attach great importance to your personal qualities and you must be self-motivated, have the ability to lead and run projects and be able to collaborate with other researchers. It is important that you are pedagogical, structured and that you can work effectively both individually and in a group. We are looking for you who is a creative person with a focus on solving problems with new techniques and methods.

Special emphasis will be placed on the ability to publish scientific work in high-quality journals and to give presentations at scientific meetings.

Your application should contain

• A short letter describing yourself, your goals and why you want to take this a postdoc position.
• CV (max 2 pages)
• Copy of the PhD, master's degree (or equivalent) and course grades
• Copies of 3 publications of particular relevance.
• A short description/summary (of a maximum of 300 words) of your doctoral thesis
• If available, an electronic version of your PhD thesis (or web link)[SW1]
• Names and contact information (e-mail and telephone) to two reference persons who have agreed to act as reference for you. 

During the application period, we will continuously read application documents and call for interviews.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement. Full time position. Starting date September 1st, 2024, or as agreed upon. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Asst. Prof. Tetyana Budnyak, Tetyana.budnyak@angstrom.uu.se, Associate Prof. Jonas Lindh, Jonas.lindh@angstrom.uu.se, or Prof. Maria Strömme, Maria.Stromme@angstrom.uu.se

Please submit your application by 27 May 2024, UFV-PA UFV-PA 2024/1273.