WISE Postdoctoral position in Nanotechnology and Functional materials, with focus on organic-inorganic composite 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 water treatment, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? If so, we welcome you to apply for a postdoctoral position with a focus on the development of organic-inorganic composite materials for mining wastewater treatment 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, 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
This recruitment is connected to the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE, wise-materials.erg). WISE, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, is the largest-ever investment in materials science in Sweden and will encompass major efforts at Sweden's foremost universities over the course of 10 years. The vision is a sustainable future through materials science.

All early-stage researchers recruited into the WISE program will be a part of the WISE Research School https://wise-materials.orq/research-school/ an ambitious nationwide program of seminars, courses, research visits, and other activities to promote a strong multi-disciplinary and international network between PhD students, postdocs, researchers, and industry.

Read more: https://wise-materials.org

The project is about the development of nanostructured materials, with a keen focus on combination of lignin and inorganic oxides. 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 inorganic contaminants presented in mining tailings. 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 Department of Earth Sciences, in particular the programs for Geophysics and Air, Water and Landscape Science (LUVAL) at Uppsala University. The project is linked to the Smart Exploration Research Center at Uppsala University (https://www.smartexploration.se). 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.

Duties
The work duties include synthesis and characterization (e.g., thermal analysis, spectroscopy, electron microscopy) of organic-inorganic composites; functionalization of composites 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 inorganic water contaminants.

The work duties also include communication of research results through scientific articles in well-established scientific journals and through presentations internally and at international conferences. In addition to research, some participation in teaching is also included, for example in the form of supervision of doctoral students, master's students and project students. 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 an equivalent degree in a related field.

We also require documented knowledge and experience of polymer-based materials and composites and od polymer modification and material characterization techniques (NMR, TGA, IR).

We require very good oral and written skills in English.

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

Additional qualifications
It is advantageous to have documented knowledge and experience in one or more of the following areas:

• spectroscopy (XPS), dispersion methods (DLS), thermal analysis, electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), analytical methods of water pollutants detection (ICP-OES, ICP-MS, HPLC)
• organic synthesis
• surface modification and composite synthesis
• solid phase extraction of organic and/or inorganic species
• science visualization (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
• 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)
• Names and contact information (e-mail and telephone) to two reference persons who have agreed to act as reference for you and state your relation to the reference person. 
• Copies (or drafts thereof) of thesis work and other documents, such as publications, which you wish to invoke

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 the central collective agreement. It is a full-time position. The starting date is January 15th, 2025, or as agreed upon. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Asst. Prof. Tetyana Budnyak, Tetyana.budnyak@angstrom.uu.se, Dr. Johan Gising, johan.gising@angstrom.uu.se, or Prof. Maria Strömme, Maria.Stromme@angstrom.uu.se

Please submit your application by 27 November 2024, UFV-PA UFV-PA 2024/3837

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.