PhD Student

We welcome applications for a full-time PhD position (1+3 years) within the Synthesis, Bioresources and Bioorganic Chemistry Research Group (SynBioC) of the Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, UGent. The PhD student will be appointed in a fellowship position on the project "SUNGATE: SUnlight-driven Next Generation Artificial photosynthesis bio-hybrid TEchnology platform for highly efficient carbon neutral production of solar fuels”.

A short summary of the SUNGATE project:
Artificial photosynthesis (AP) is a promising approach for solar fuel production, but current systems are inefficient, expensive and unsuitable for industrial deployment. The interdisciplinary SUNGATE consortium of 12 partners from six EU countries and Turkey will overcome these limitations by combining the principles of AP with photoelectrocatalysis and flow microreactor technology, leading to the first modular full-cell continuous flow microreactor technology that requires only sunlight (as an energy source) plus water and CO2 (as simple, abundant feedstocks) for conversion into solar fuels such as methanol and formate. The technology will operate at room temperature and neutral pH using aqueous solutions. In contrast to state-of-the-art photoelectrochemical (PEC) technologies, SUNGATE will not use toxic or critical raw materials, and will combine efficient water oxidation catalysts, with biological components such as photosystem I and enzymes, novel CO2 reducing catalysts and nanostructured diamond-based cathodes to radically improve the efficiency of conversion. The unique modular and scalable design of SUNGATE technology will allow the decarbonised production of solar fuels by increasing the size of the microfluidic PEC device or by numbering up the PEC modules, thus providing the flexibility for diverse applications ranging from decentralised energy infrastructure to closed carbon cycles for industries that emit large amounts of CO2. SUNGATE aims to achieve proof of concept at TRL5, heralding a technology breakthrough that has the potential to secure the future global energy supply at an affordable cost.

SUNGATE is a Research and Innovation Action of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON), within the topic of Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply (HORIZON-CL5-2022-D3-03). The SUNGATE consortium gathers academic and SME research partners from Germany, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Turkey, and The Netherlands and it is coordinated by the Fraunhofer gesellschaft zur forderung der angewandten forschung.

Your tasks within this consortium will be focussed on work package 4 (WP4): “to design and assemble the modular (bio)hybrid PEC continuous flow microreactors and to demonstrate the generation of reducing equivalents and CO2 conversion”.
In this work package you will combine theoretical reactor requirements (WP1) and the experimental photoelectrode data (materials, size, thickness, connectivity, electrode surface characteristics, component stability, photocurrent density, and product yield, as developed by the WP2 and WP3 partners) to refine the design and the operational parameters of the full-cell devices. Two microfluidic reactor prototypes will be evaluated in parallel. You will use computer-aided design to prepare all modular components needed to assemble the full-cell devices. You will interact with our industrial partners regarding flow dynamics and mechanical stability for laboratory-scale devices and you will use these results to assess the potential for scale-up of both flow reactor technologies. Once assembled, you will evaluate the operational parameters of the microfluidic devices to reach optimal solar fuel production rates. In light of the real-life applicability of this technology, you will also evaluate the effect of contaminants in CO2 streams on the cell’s efficiency using 13C isotopic tracing experiments.

Candidates are expected to have a (bio)engineering background and affinity with analytic organic chemistry. For this project we are looking for someone who is critical, analytical and has a sense of initiative.
Other profile requirements:

• You hold a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering, Bioscience Engineering, Chemical Engineering or equivalent. The degree requirements must be met at the start of the appointment.
• You are interested in scientific research in order to obtain a doctoral degree.
• Experience in the field of microreactor technology (design and/or application) is considered a plus.
• You have good writing and presentation skills.
• You have a very good oral and written knowledge of academic English.
• You live in Belgium or are willing to settle here for the duration of the appointment.
• You are open to the possibility for a Joint PhD between the EU partners.

Please send an email, no later than July 21st 2023, 23:59 CEST to: Prof. Dr. ir. Thomas Heugebaert ([email protected] )
The subject of the email should contain the following title: 'Application PhD SUNGATE + family name’.
The following documents must be attached: letter of motivation, CV, a copy of the highest degree and a summary of the results of the studies.

Selection procedure:

• Preselection based on the provided documents
• Selection based on interviews (August 7-18th)
• Planned starting date doctoral position: October 1st, 2023.

You will be recruited on the basis of competencies. Qualities of people are decisive, regardless of gender, religion, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation or any disability.
For more information about the content of this position and the SUNGATE project, please contact [email protected]