PhD Waste stream mild fractionation process intensification (1.0 FTE) (V25.0061)

RE-Fibre is a Doctoral Network funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA-DN) that aims to revolutionize Bio-fibre composite landscape by designing high-performance, fully renewable, and recyclable wood and plant fibre materials. RE-Fibre will train 11 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) with an entrepreneurial and sustainability-mindset in the disciplines of green/lignin chemistry, new biobased materials, and environmental systems science (Website: https://refibre-dn.eu/). The DCs will build on ground-breaking findings being generated at the RE-Fibre consortium, to enable the development of fully recyclable functional biobased composites with properties on par with fossil-based counterparts. They will gain competencies, not only in a breakthrough scientific field but also in interdisciplinary and interpersonal skills. Additionally, they will expand their network and gain experience through participating in secondments (research stays at a site of an academic or industrial partner). Finally, DCs will learn the best practices by developing online research and training tools, enabling them to work and collaborate across academic and industrial sectors. RE-Fibre training will contribute to DCs employability as future leaders, while supporting the green transition and a sustainable circular economy in Europe.

Of the 11 DCs, DC1 will be hosted at the Green Chemical Reaction Engineering Group (ENTEG) at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Here the DC will join a research team that developed biomass pretreatment and lignin fractionation methodology to obtain novel bio-based chemical products. Within the project the overall goal of this DC project is to develop mild smart disassembly methodology for residual lignocellulosic biomass streams. With the following sub-objectives

• The development of a flow-through setup and downstream processing to isolate high-quality modified lignin from forestry residues.
• Exploration of alcohol-based modification strategies of lignin integrating the develop flow methodology.
• Analysis of modified lignin streams to establish relationships between lignin characteristics and the process conditions.
• In-silico studies for process design to deliver input for techno-economics and LCA.

Organisation
Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 34,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Within the Faculty of Science and Engineering, one 4-years DC (PhD) position is available at the Green Chemical Reaction Engineering Group (ENTEG, located at Nijenborgh 3, 9747AG Groningen, The Netherlands)) has a strong track record for the chemical conversion of renewable feedstocks to chemicals and fuels and currently consists of 6 principal investigators and around 40 researchers supported by 7 technical staff. The Catalytic Processing of Sustainable Resources subgroup of Prof. Dr Peter J. Deuss exists since 2016 and works on the development of catalytic conversion technologies for residual carbon streams such as biomass and waste plastics. The Deuss group brings specific interest and expertise in lignocellulose fractionation; lignin structural characterization; chemistry of renewables; catalysis; characterization of biomass and biomass-derived mixtures to the Re-Fibre consortium and has the goal to apply mild lignin fractionation technologies to wood residues and study the relationship between the extraction combined with downstream processing conditions and the lignin product properties.

The successful candidate should have

• A Master's degree (or equivalent) in Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or a related field.
• High motivation in pursuing academic research.
• Effective communication (both written and spoken in English) and collaboration abilities.
• Willingness to take part in research exchange with other project partners (6-month secondments at SCA, Sweden and University of Graz, Austria) and training activities across Europe.
• Experience in the fields of Biomass conversion, (lignin) polymer chemistry, reactor/process engineering are preferred.

Specific Requirements
There are strict eligibility requirements for the DC positions in MSCA-Doctoral Networks (DNs). Please ensure to be qualified before applying, as ineligible candidates cannot be considered.

• Admission to the program is open to applicants who hold a 2nd Level Master Degree (120 ECTS + 180 ECTS in a bachelor degree) or a Single Cycle Degree (minimum 300 ECTS), or a comparable university degree (Second Cycle qualification), as required by the partner universities for admission to doctoral studies.
• At the time of recruitment applicants must not have been awarded a doctorate.
• At the time of recruitment applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before their recruitment date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.
• Applicant must be able to communicate fluently in English (at least B2-level speaking and writing).

We offer you, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the fourth and final year for a full-time working fee.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% year-end bonus.
• A full-time position (1.0 FTE). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years.
• Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected.
• A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering.

Applicants can apply for up to 3 PhD projects, indicating the order of preference. All applications will have to be written in English and will be checked for eligibility. Ineligible or incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications must be submitted through the RE-Fibre website (https://refibre-dn.eu/) from 1 February 2025 at 17:00 Central European Time to 28 February 2025 at 17:00 Central European Time. Applications coming through different channels than the project website (e.g. sent by email) will not be considered.

Applicants are required to fill in the Application form on the website and submit the following documents by uploading them as PDF files:

• Detailed Curriculum Vitae (Europass format – with added List of publications, participation in funded research projects, other qualifications, if any, must be included).
• Certified copy of Academic Degree/s in original language along with a certified translation into English, and/or Diploma Supplement (if applicable).
• Certified copies of official Academic Transcripts relating to all academic courses taken to earn every degree (Bachelor/Master or equivalent), translated into English, and corresponding grade point average.
• Copy of passport (or, for EU citizens, equivalent ID document).

Additionally, to complete your application, please send the filled Mobility Rule template to applications refibre-dn.eu Finally, two recommendation letters (prepared using a template) must be sent directly by the referees to applications refibre-dn.eu, with the name of the applicant in the subject line until the application deadline. Recommendation letter template and Mobility Rule template can be downloaded on the confirmation page after submitting the application form and are included in the conformation mail.

Failure to submit any of the above documents or lack of any of the required reference letters implies exclusion from the RE-Fibre recruitment procedure. For more information, please contact us through the Contact form on the RE-Fibre website. Data of the applicants will be shared within the Consortium for recruitment purposes only. All data provided by the applicants are processed solely for the purpose of the RE-Fibre call for applicants.

The application deadline may be extended if not enough applications are received. Information about a possible extension will be published on the project website and other communication channels.

Selection process
RE-Fibre will adopt the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers promoting open, merit-based and transparent recruitment and attractive working and employment conditions.
The two-step procedure for applicants' selection is based on assessment of the documents attached to the application form and on an interview (videoconference) to those applicants who have passed the first-step selection. Shortlisted applicants will be informed of the interview process within three weeks from the deadline for applications.

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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