Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Biological and Chemical Engineering programme. The position is available from 1 October 2024 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
Ammonia synthesis and separation at mild temperatures and pressures

Research area and project description:
The PhD project will focus on the development of ammonia synthesis technology at mild pressures and temperatures. The main focus will be identification of best conditions for the synthesis to occurs and this includes i) optimal ratio of gases; ii) catalyst support geometry; iii) pressure & temperature and iv) nitrogen activation strategy.

Some specific tasks of the PhD position will include:

• Help to develop the pressurized setup for continuous assessment of the technology performance.
• Reactor optimization in terms of the composition of the inlet stream as well as nitrogen activation strategy.
• Analysis of products (GC, MS, NMR, UV/Vis), Quantification of reaction rates, yields and energy efficiency.
• Characterization of catalyst materials (XRD, TGA, BET, SEM-EDX) – pretest and postmortem analysis
• Continuous data collection and visualization, preferably using Python/Matlab or other programming languages that allow for real-time data visualization/analysis.
• Dissemination of results through both academic and non-academic channels.
• Working in a consortium with external partners that will provide specific reactor components.

Project description. For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:
The applicant should have demonstrated excellence and have a relevant MSc degree in chemical engineering, chemistry or similar. The candidate should be a team worker. A “no-task-is-to-little for me” attitude, open discussion approach and strong ethics are required for this position.       

Specific skills:

• Well acquainted with Laboratory & Safety Procedures in a chemical lab and gas handling
• Ready to learn completely new topics little to none covered in the literature – we will do this as a team and help you grow
• Experience with reactor engineering, reaction kinetics, yields, selectivity and energy efficiency is a bonus. Otherwise we can help you master the topic, provided you convince us you are motivated to learn.
• Good communication skills & publication experience  is a bonus – but we can also help you develop these skills
• Ability to work in a team and for a team.
• Ability to work independently and deliver what has been agreed.
   

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Section for Process Materials and Engineering, Aabogade 40, 8200 Aarhus N., Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:

• Emil Drazevic, edrazevic@bce.au.dk (main supervisor)
• Jacopo Catalano, jcatalano@au.dk (co-supervisor)

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 1 August 2024 at 23:59 CEST

Preferred starting date is 1 October 2024

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.