挪威奥斯陆大学招聘两年期计算催化研究博士后

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1352) is available for a period of 2 years. Starting date is February 1, 2015.

Job description:

We seek a highly motivated Postdoctoral Scientist for the NanoReactor project in the Catalysis section. The research in the section focuses on design of catalysts for chemical conversion of petroleum sources, in particular natural gas, based on atomistic and mechanistic insight in reactions and active sites. The successful candidate will work in a highly cross-disciplinary and internationally competitive research environment comprising 45 post docs and students. The project is headed by Prof. Unni Olsbye, Prof. Karl-Petter Lillerud and Dr. Rasmus Brogaard and investigates model reactions in zeolite acid catalysts, tightly combining experiment and theory with the goal of quantitatively predicting the activity of new catalysts. This position focuses on DFT modeling of the reactions (see project description below), using state of the art computational resources from NOTUR – The Norwegian metacenter for computational science.

The Catalysis section has an extensive network of international collaborators, and research stays abroad is a natural part of any position in the section. This particular position includes a 3 months stay at the SUNCAT center at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory / Stanford University. The highly motivated and skilled candidate will be given the opportunity to mature his/her scientific profile during the project, including establishing new international collaborations and participating in funding applications submitted by the section.

Requirements:

The candidate must document a competitive track record in first principles modeling of chemical reactions, preferably at catalyst surfaces. It is imperative that the candidate is highly self-driven and able to take responsibility for his/her own work, including troubleshooting and acquiring additional skills required to reach the project goals.

The candidate will have regular meetings with the project team to discuss scientific and practical issues related to the project. He/she is expected to take part in scientific interactions with the rest of the research group and supervision of students. Hence, he/she must master the English language at a high level and possess good interpersonal and communication skills.

Project description:

Zeolites constitute the second largest class of catalysts in process industry. During the past decade, significant progress has been made in fundamental understanding of zeolite-catalyzed processes, owing to a combination of mechanistic studies, synthesis of materials with systematically modified properties (pore and cavity size, crystal size, acid-site strength and density) and improved characterization techniques.

The aim of the NanoReactor project is to enable tailoring of zeolites containing reaction entities – NanoReactors – that are only 1-4 unit cells deep, and retain the shape selectivity induced by the framework topology, towards a variety of target reactions. This highly ambitious goal will be pursued through three areas of effort, systematically mapping a space of catalytic reaction, acid strength and zeolite framework topology:

1. Synthesis of diffusion resistance free, unit cell thick sheets of zeolite supports using surfactants as morphology modifiers.

2. Kinetic measurements of single reaction steps.

3. DFT modeling of the catalytic reactions, employing state of the art computational resources to extract trends among the different materials.

The project team comprises a PhD student (synthesis), two postdocs (kinetic measurements and modeling), as well as Prof. Unni Olsbye, Prof. Karl-Petter Lillerud and Dr. Rasmus Brogaard from the Catalysis section.

Qualifications

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

The candidates must have a PhD or other corresponding education equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in Physics, Chemistry or Chemical Engineering.

Please also refer to the regulations pertaining to the conditions of employment for post-doctoral fellowship positions:

A good command of English is required.

Salary

Position code 1352, pay grade: 57 – 65 (NOK 482 800 – 559 600 per year, depending on qualifications and seniority).

The application must include
•Application letter
•CV (summarizing edtucation, positions, research experience and other qualifying activity)
•Copies of educational certificates, letters of recommendation, and a list of reference persons
•A complete list of publications and all academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
•Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, email address, and telephone number)

Please remember that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.

In accordance with the University of Oslo’s equal opportunities policy, we invite applications from all interested individuals regardless of gender or ethnicity….