2 PhD's in Photochemical process development

9 Sep 2023
Job Information

Organisation/Company

University of Amsterdam (UvA)

Research Field

Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

6 Mar 2024 - 14:11 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

38.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

For a recently awarded research grant by the Netherlands Scientific Organisation (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijke Onderzoek, NWO ), TU/e and UvA are looking for two PhD candidates to conduct research in the field of photochemical process development. The PhD positions will be located either at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Chemical Reactor Engineering group of Professor John van der Schaaf or in the Photocatalysis and Flow Chemistry group at the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Professor Timothy Noël . The project will be in collaboration with the companies Signify and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

What are you going to do?
Photocatalytic transformations have begun to transform the way pharmaceuticals are made, providing unprecedented levels of reactivity and selectivity. However, due to the high cost of photons and the attenuation of light, photocatalysis remains a daunting challenge to carry out on scale. Consequently, advancements in high throughput continuous-flow reactors are urgently needed to assist process chemists in the transition of photocatalytic transformations from laboratory settings into industrial production. In this project, novel rotor-stator spinning disk reactor technology in combination with high intensity and energy-efficient light sources will be designed, developed and applied for the scale up of key photocatalytic steps.

The central tenet of this research program is to develop a scalable, continuous-flow photochemical rotor-stator spinning disk reactor, which provide excellent mass, heat and photon transfer characteristics, and are combined with high intensity light sources. [see also the following papers which have been obtained jointly by the teams at UvA and TU/e):

• Scale-Up of a Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Degradation Using a Photochemical Rotor–Stator Spinning Disk Reactor. Organic Process Research & Development 2022, 26 (4), 1279-1288 DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.2c00012 Chaudhuri, A.; Zondag, S. D. A.; Schuurmans, J. H. A.; van der Schaaf, J.; and Noël, T.
• Process Intensification of Photochemical Oxidations Using a High Throughput Rotor-Stator Spinning Disk Reactor: A Strategy for Scale Up. Chemical Engineering Journal 2020, 400, 125875 DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.125875 Chaudhuri, A.; Kuijpers, K. P. L.; Hendrix, R.; Hacking, J.; Shivaprasad, P.; Emanuelsson, E. A. C.; Noël, T. and Schaaf, J. van der.

This new reactor design will facilitate the scaling of a diverse set of challenging, multiphase photocatalytic transformations to the reaction scales, required in the pharmaceutical industry.

We are looking for two PhD candidates: one focusing on chemical reactor development with an affinity to chemistry who will be stationed at TU Eindhoven, while the other position is focusing on process chemistry with an affinity to reactor technology and will be stationed at University of Amsterdam. These two students will be working together during the entire grant.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Developing photocatalytic transformations which are ready for scale up;
• Scaling the transformations in collaboration with the colleagues from Eindhoven University of Technology.

Requirements
Specific Requirements

• A recent MSc degree in chemistry, chemical engineering or related field;
• Good communication skills in oral and written English;
• Takes initiative and has good time and project management skills;
• Interest in collaborating with students and colleagues in within and outside the institute;
• Team player;
• Problem solving skills should be excellent;
• Positive mindset: sees solutions or opportunities, not problems!;
• Excellent synthetic organic chemistry skills is a must;
• Experience with Flow Chemistry and/or photoredox catalysis is a plus.

Additional Information
Benefits

We offer a temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting date is a soon as possible. This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between E 2,770.- in the first year to E 3,539.- (scale P) in the last year. This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• Multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• A complete educational program for PhD students;
• Multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• The possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• A pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• The possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here .

Selection process

Do you recognize yourself in the job profile? Then we look forward to receiving your application by October 1, 2023. You may apply online by using the link below.

Applications in .pdf should include:

• A curriculum vitae;
• A letter of motivation.

Please mention the months (not just years) in your CV when referring to your education and work experience.

We will recruit until the positions are filled and close the position when suitable candidates are found.

Additional comments

Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:

• Prof. Dr. Ing. Timothy Noël , Chair of Flow Chemistry

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/332051/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Faculty of Science

Country

Netherlands

City

Amsterdam

Postal Code

1098XH

Street

Science Park 904

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/332051/2-phds-in-photochemical-process-deve…

Contact

City

Amsterdam

Website

http://www.uva.nl/

Street

Spui 21

Postal Code

1012 WX

STATUS: EXPIRED