PhD student in Molecular Modelling of Solid Polymer Electrolytes

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

Duties
The electrolyte is an indispensable and critical component in any electrochemical storage device. The materials discovery of electrolytes for battery applications faces an enormous challenge where the design space is highly combinatorial in chemical, compositional, and topological spaces. To tackle this outstanding challenge, computational tools powered by machine learning (ML) techniques need to be developed to explore the corresponding design space efficiently. The focus of this project will be on i) developing accurate ML force fields for simulating polymer electrolyte systems; ii) developing novel molecular representations used in ML predictions of polymer electrolyte properties. The candidate will be hosted by the TeC group (https://tec-group.github.io), which is part of the Ångström Advanced Battery Centre (ÅABC). This PhD position is part of a new 5-year NEST project, Solid Polymer ElectrolytE Discovery SPEED - https://wasp-sweden.org/nest-project-speed/, which aims to position Sweden at the forefront of materials science and AI research through collaboration between researchers at Uppsala University and Chalmers University of Technology.

This recruitment is also connected to the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE, https://wise-materials.org). 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. The recruited early-stage researcher will also be a part of the WISE Graduate School (https://wise-materials.org/research/graduate-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.

Requirements
The candidate must have:

• a Master's degree in theoretical chemistry (or related disciplines) and possess a good understanding of physical chemistry and materials chemistry 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.
• must have excellent capabilities in written and oral English.
• programming skills with Python.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive 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

• previous experiences with molecular dynamics simulations and (periodic) quantum chemical calculations.
• previous experience with machine learning applications in molecular modelling, including experience with at least three of the following Python libraries: TensorFlow, PyTorch, JAX, RDKit.
• previous experiences with collaborative coding with GitHub.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 2025-11-01 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:
Dr. Chao Zhang, chao.zhang@kemi.uu.se, +4618-471 3721,
Dr. Rocío Mercado Oropeza, rocio.mercado@chalmers.se

Please submit your application by July 31 2025, UFV-PA 2025/1977.

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