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 01 February 2027 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
PhD in engineering of enzyme-catalysed ammonia synthesis

Research area and project description:
We are seeking applicants for a 3-year PhD studies in enzyme-catalysed ammonia synthesis, to join us at P2CHEM group. You will become a part of larger project ENGREENIT, in a collaboration with professor Selin Kara, professor Bekir Engin Eser, Professor Shelly D. Minteer (Missouri University of Science and Technology), Astra Zeneca and under full supervision of associate professor Emil Drazevic at Aarhus University.

This is a hands-on project, where most of the work is performed in the lab in the glovebox. We will use enzymes delivered/immobilized by the team of professors Selin Kara and Bekir E. Eser and synthesize ammonia under inert atmosphere in batch and continuous flow mode. The main challenge will be to learn to operate the reactor in continuous flow mode.

P2CHEM group has experience in working in inert atmospheres and has established batch setup for this project, procedures for highly reliable ammonia quantification, and started some work on the flow reactor development.

 Some specific tasks during the projects are:

• Benchmark the applicant/setup for ammonia synthesis in reference conditions
• Synthesis of ammonia at significantly higher rates and yields in batch mode, compared to reference conditions
• Synthesis of ammonia in a continuous flow mode
• Dissemination activities, here conference attendance, writing articles and teaching
• Taking mandatory PhD courses
• Meetings with the ENGREENIT project team

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:
Applicants to the PhD position must hold a master’s degree in chemical engineering/chemistry/biotech or similar education that teach candidates to work safely in chemistry lab.

We seek detail-oriented applicants that can work in a team. The ideal applicant is not afraid of proposing own ideas to help us solve the challenges we meet. We search for a proactive person, that can help us solve the challenge.

The applicants will join the team where we take pride for the high-quality work we deliver, while we help each other grow.

You must demonstrate fluency in English, orally and in written.

The applicants must provide contact details to your master thesis supervisor.

It is an advantage if the candidates can document or make a convincing case in the job application of for example:

• Teaching experience
• Publication experience, here it needs to be clear your contribution in the article.
• Management skills, here in particular time management, as the position sometimes involves multitasking (experiments, writing, teaching, taking courses) Contacts:
  Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact: 

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, Aabogade 40, 8200 Aarhus N., Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact: 

• Emil Dražević, edrazevic@bce.au.dk (main supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk 

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

Application deadline is 09 July 2026 at 23:59 CEST.

Preferred starting date is 01 February 2027.

Please note: 

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be considered.
• 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.   

emil drazevic au