Vacancies

PhD position on computational design of adsorbents for the removal of micropollutants from water

Job description

Per/polyfluorinated alkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, are a diverse class of environmentally persistent, toxic, and carcinogenic trace pollutants in drinking water. PFAS and other harmful micropollutants are products of domestic, industrial, and agricultural activities. The concentration of such pollutants in drinking water, even at trace levels, poses a threat to the environment and public health. New European Directives call for urgent measures to remove PFAS (and other harmful pollutants) from drinking water because the traditional drinking water treatment technologies may not be able to comply with the new standards. 

This opening is part of the NWO funded project SYROP which focuses on the tailored design and upscaled production of fully sustainable CD polymers (CDP) that can selectively target emerging micropollutants, such as PFAS. This PhD position will focus on the in silico design and testing of CDP adsorbents mainly using advanced molecular simulation methods. The candidate will collaborate with a team of experts in machine learning and adsorption/filtration experiments. A strong interaction with the related industry and water authorities is also expected.  

Requirements

We seek a highly motivated and conscientious researcher (f/m/x) with strong communication and self-management skills, who is passionate about making high impact contributions to new technologies for water treatment.

The successful candidate holds an MSc degree in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics, or a similar discipline and has a strong background in thermodynamics, mathematics, and transport phenomena. Affinity with molecular simulation, scientific computing, and statistical thermodynamics will be considered as strong points. TU Delft is an equal opportunity employer, and therefore we strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from €2541,- per month in the first year to €3247,- in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Read more and apply online!

Job description

Dense emulsions are gaining interest for food applications e.g. for fat replacement and delivery systems for bioactive components. The microstructure of the emulsion consists of compressed droplets, ranging from slightly deformed to highly deformed polyhedral droplets. Due to the close packing of the droplets, the concentrated emulsions have high viscosities which makes them suitable candidates for e.g. 3D printing of novel food structures. However, their flow during downstream processing is complex due to droplet rearrangements and droplet deformations. The flow behaviour of the jammed emulsion droplets can only be described if the droplet deformability and inter-droplet interactions are understood. Carefully controlled experiments on various length scales (interface characterisation up to macroscopic characterisations) will be performed as well as mathematical modelling of the involved forces.

In this PhD project, you will investigate the macroscopic properties of concentrated emulsions including droplet rearrangements under flow dependent on the droplets interfacial properties. Correlations will be established between interfacial phenomena, bulk rheology, and emulsion stability to gain deeper insights into the underlying mechanisms. Ultimately, you will use your insights as input for mathematical models describing the flow of concentrated emulsions and their macroscopic rheological properties

As a PhD candidate you conduct original scientific research (mainly experimental), report on this research in international publications and presentations, and present the results of your research in a PhD thesis within 4 years. You will have the opportunity to coach BSc and MSc students and supervise their thesis projects. As a PhD candidate, you will receive the training you need, to develop yourself in multiple areas.

Requirements

We seek a self-motivated, curiosity-driven researcher with a passion for doing research. We strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

• The successful candidate holds an MSc degree in mechanical engineering, applied physics, chemical engineering or a similar degree.
• Demonstrated proficiency in experimental work and interest in the work is essential. Basic knowledge of mathematical modelling is a plus.
• Furthermore, you have excellent communication skills in English, both written and oral. Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. 

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Read more and apply online!

Developing the next generation smart centrifuges

Job description

Technologies to visualise centrifugation processes are important in the food, water, and chemical industries, where centrifuges are used for solid-liquid separations or for product/process analysis. As a result of a European Research Council project, we are developing  a bench-top device for optical visualisation of centrifugation processes, with integrated electronics and coupled software analysis tool. We are looking for an enthusiastic individual who can help us improving the hardware components of the device, overcoming problems of miniaturisation, device robustness under high centrifugal velocities, and image quality under extreme conditions of vibrations and poor light. In addition to co-developing the device, the candidate should also be able to test the device with samples received from companies and research groups. The project is carried out in an academic research lab and involve scientific collaborations. However, the candidate should have a clear predisposition for applied research, have previous experiences working in collaboration with private companies and know how to interface with them in a professional, timely manner. The job requires dissemination through effective and engaging presentations at conferences and other venues.

The project may lead to a startup, so the candidate should be open to consider the possibility of continuing the project in the future if further funding is available.  

Requirements

We are looking for a candidate with a university education (Bachelor level - BSc, BA or equivalent, MSc or PhD) and proven technical abilities acquired through academic training, working experiences or self-learning.  We are looking for a tinkerer who enjoys trying options out and experimenting with different solutions.

The technical abilities most sought after are in the areas of: small device fabrication; 3D printing; data visualisation; development of electronic circuits (e.g. with Arduino) for actuation of small mechanical equipments; solution of problems of optics that are aimed at obtaining high-quality photographic images from small samples; software for image analysis and processing of photographic images; basics of computer coding in a modern language. Previous experiences as user of laboratory equipment is a plus.

You should bring evidence of delivering on projects in a timely manner when collaborating with companies and institutions, have good communication and presentation abilities (as evidence, for example, by previous dissemination experiences), and have excellent command of written and spoken English. Knowledge of Dutch is not required but is a plus.

Conditions of employment

• We offer a salary according to the CAO Dutch Universities scale 8 to 9 depending on your working experience (from € 3072,-gross to € 4640,- gross per month based on 38 hours per week), plus 8% vacation allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• An excellent pension scheme via the ABP.
• The possibility to compile an individual employment package every year.
• Discount with health insurers.
• Flexible working week.
• Every year, 232 leave hours (at 38 hours). You can also sell or buy additional leave hours via the individual choice budget.
• Plenty of opportunities for education, training and courses.
• Partially paid parental leave
• Attention for working healthy and energetically with the vitality program.

Read more and apply!