PhD student in Self-driving Chemistry Labs for CO₂ conversion

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 300 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. (https://kemi.uu.se/angstrom/?languageId=1).

Project description
Transforming CO₂ into multi-carbon products through electrocatalysis represents an attractive strategy for both mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and storing excess renewable energy in chemical form. While advances in catalyst design have significantly improved the selective formation of multi-carbon products, the influence of the reaction environment, such as pH, ionic species, and their concentrations on product selectivity remains underexplored. This project aims to develop a self-driving lab for autonomous electrolyte formulation and evaluation, enabling rapid mapping of catalyst selectivity in relation to the reaction environment during CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR). The overarching goal is to build a fundamental mechanistic understanding of how environmental factors influence selectivity toward multi-carbon products in electrochemical CO₂ conversion via data-driven experimental approach.

Duties
The doctoral student is expected to:

• Develop and optimize self-driving lab for CO₂RR, including automation of electrolyte formulation and sampling of products.
• Plan and perform analysis of CO₂ reduction catalysts using electrochemical techniques.
• Analyze data it using advanced data processing techniques, including machine learning and statistical approaches for data interpretation.
• Present research findings at group meetings, international conferences, and in peer-reviewed publications.
• Take third-cycle level courses relevant to doctoral education.

The work duties may also include teaching and other departmental responsibilities, not exceeding 20% of the total workload.

Requirements
The candidate must have:

• been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• acquired essentially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.
• very good oral and written proficiency in English.
• second-cycle qualification or equivalent as above in Electrochemistry, Physical Chemistry, or related field.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, driv and independence, and how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen ongoing research within the department, and how they stand to contribute to its future development.

Additional qualifications
Practical experience in electrocatalysis and experimental automation is an advantage. Familiarity with Python is considered a merit.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 2025-09-01 or as agreed. Placement: Department of Chemistry-Ångström, 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: 
Alina Sekretareva, alina.sekretareva@kemi.uu.se. 

Please submit your application by 1st July 2025, UFV-PA 2025/1769.