PhD Student: Catalytic Process Engineering 1195 views

Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is seeking a PhD Student for the Catalytic Process Engineering Group in the Bioenergy and Catalysis Laboratory. The PhD student will study of sulfur chemistry in hydrothermal conditions for efficient desulfurisation of wet biomass.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Optimize reaction conditions and develop analytical strategies to monitor the progress of biomass desulfurisation reactions under hydrothermal conditions
• Preparation, characterisation and testing of various catalysts under supercritical water conditions
• Integration of the concept developed in this project into an existing test rig (lab-scale)
• Development of analytical procedure (FT-IR/Raman) for in situ monitoring of reaction intermediates
• Publish results in leading scientific journals and present at international conferences, and write a PhD thesis on the topic
• Collaborate with the project partner at Hiroshima University, Japan, including scientific visit(s) for a total of 6 months
• Support teaching activities at EPFL and / or FHNW Windisch

Requirements:

• Applicant must hold university Master’s degree in Chemistry or chemical engineering
• Applicant must possess good knowledge of English and knowledge in analytics (spectroscopy) with organic chemistry
• Applicant must be rigorous, autonomous and curious and must possess knowledge on material chemistry, catalysis and biomass
• Good level in German is a plus

Applications:

Submit application online including addresses of referees (index no. 5101-06).