Postdoctoral Fellow in Battery Separator Research

About the job

The postdoctoral fellowship position is a temporary position where the main goal is to qualify for work in senior academic positions.

The successful applicant will work for the 3S battery project: “Super selective separators for battery applications”. This project is funded by the Research Council of Norway through the Technological Convergence  call.  SINTEF industry (Norway) and Uppsala University (Sweden) are the project partners. The objective of the 3S battery project is to develop and engineer tailored separators enabling high electrochemical performances and long cyclic life in Li-S batteries. The successful applicant will be involved in the design, fabrication, and characterization of separators with nano-scale architectures and functionalities to address the challenges in Li-S batteries. The tasks may require experience in membrane and thin film fabrication, characterization, nanocomposite design, and battery assembly and testing.

The selected candidate will join the Membrane Laboratory in the Department of Chemical Engineering and work closely with the Battery Laboratory in the Department of Material Sciences at NTNU. These laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for the fabrication and characterization of nanocomposite, membranes and thin films, and battery assembly and evaluation.

The position will report to Prof. Liyuan Deng.  The immediate leader of the position is the Head of Department of Chemical Engineering.

Duties of the position

• Conduct research tasks in the 3S Battery project.
• Assist and collaborate with other members of the research team and the project partners, possibly including research visits.
• Generate research results and prepare deliverable and scientific papers.
• Present the results at project meetings and conferences.

Required selection criteria

• You must have completed a Norwegian doctoral degree or corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian PhD in Chemical Engineering. If you can document that the PhD thesis has been submitted, your application can be assessed even if you have not yet defended your dissertation. Documentation of the obtained doctoral degree must be presented before you can take up the position. 
• Good language skills: a good command of both written and spoken English.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Ph.D Candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate.

Preferred selection criteria

• Strong academic qualifications with good publication record
• Documented competence of synthesis and modification of nanomaterials
• Hands-on skills with designing and setting up experiments in the lab
• Experience in thin film fabrication
• Knowledge of batteries and electrochemical devices is an advantage
• Experience in Nanolab and cleanroom facilities is an advantage
• Knowledge in polymer synthesis and MOF synthesis is an advantage

Personal characteristics

• Creative, critical thinking, and problem-solving
• Ability to work in interdisciplinary environments
• Safe working practice
• Scientific and technical proficiency, and high ambitions
• Good communication skills.

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer 

Salary and conditions

As a Postdoctoral Fellow (code 1352) you are normally paid from gross NOK 604 900 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 2 years. 

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants , and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU.  

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution on a daily basis.

About the application 

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must be attached to the application. Please note that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above.  

If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account, recognizing that the quantity of your research may be reduced as a result. 

The application must include:

• CV and certificates
• A motivation letter including a brief description how you meet each of the qualifications required to succeed in this project. This document should not exceed 2 pages.
• Diplomas for bachelor's-, master's- and PhD degrees. If you have not yet completed your Ph.D, you must provide confirmation on your estimated date for the doctoral dissertation, or that your PhD thesis has been submitted.
• A complete list of publications.
• A research plan based on your understanding of the project tasks (up to 2 pages)
• Name and contact information of three referees

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education. Description of the documentation required can be found here . If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well. 

Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint works, you must attach a brief description of your participation. 

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA. 

General information 

Working at NTNU 

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is a strength. We want our faculty and staff to reflect Norway’s culturally diverse population and we continuously seek to hire the best minds. This enables NTNU to increase productivity and innovation, improve decision making processes, raise employee satisfaction, compete academically with global top-ranking institutions and carry out our social responsibilities within education and research. NTNU emphasizes accessibility and encourages qualified candidates to apply regardless of gender identity, ability status, periods of unemployment or ethnic and cultural background.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality .

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.  

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted. 

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation . You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Prof.Liyuan Deng, email liyuan.deng@ntnu.no . If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Unni M. Myhre, e-mail: unni.m.myhre@ntnu.no  

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation. 

Application deadline: 15.10.2023

NTNU

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Chemical Engineering 

We take chemistry from laboratory scale to industrial production. This demands a wide range of knowledge, from molecular processes and nanotechnology to building and operation of large processing plants. We educate graduates for some of Norway's most important industries. The Department of Chemical Engineering is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Natural Sciences.  

Apply for this job

Deadline 15th October 2023
EmployerNTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality  Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service Sem Sælands vei 4, 7491 Trondheim