Postdoctoral researcher in Environmental and Energy Systems with a specialization in Sustainable Biorefinery Processes - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Would you like to work with exciting research in the field of circular bioeconomy? Do you have experience of scenario analysis from sustainability perspective? Then this may be the job for you!

Background

The Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences at the Faculty of Health, Science and Technology consists of four subjects: Environmental and Energy Systems, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Construction Engineering. The department has the research group Pro2BE (Processes and Products for a Circular Bio-economy), which is engaged in seeking sustainable solutions for process technology and product applications in the forest industry and society at large. Pro2BE focuses on the transition from the current economic / technical culture based on the consumption of non-renewable resources to an economy based on renewable resources.

In the current project (WoodPro), research groups from Karlstad University (Sweden) and Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) jointly address the conversion of forest residues into novel, value added products with many industrial applications. WoodPro aims to increase the usefulness of ubiquitous forest residues, by moving away from energy recovery towards materials recovery and product development. We will use the forest and allied industrial residues to explore three interconnecting value chains leading up to three different types of products: fine chemicals, industrial specialty raw material, and bulk material. We will analyze the value chains, for each product developed in the project, for environmental sustainability and economic feasibility, considering all possible pathways, and then will determine the most sustainable biorefining option for valorizing forest residues into 2,3-butanediol, biopolymer, and hydrochar.

We are therefore looking for a Postdoctoral researcher in Environment and Energy Systems, who will have a placement at the Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences to work in WoodPro project.

Job description

The postdoctoral position will be connected to the research group Pro2BE at Karlstad University and research will be done in close cooperation with UEF and LUKE. The focus of the current position is to determine the most sustainable biorefining alternatives for valorizing forest residues into 2,3-butanediol, biopolymer, and hydrochar/biochar. The value chains, for each product developed in the project, for environmental sustainability and economic feasibility, need to be analyzed considering all possible pathways. For this, the applicant should be familiar with developing life cycle assessment, dynamin material flow analysis and superstructure models to optimize and rank the scenarios.

The postdoctoral fellow collects, synthesizes and processes information to develop high-quality databases, analyze biorefinery systems and extract and run objective functions.

Qualification requirements

To be eligible for the postdoctoral appointment, applicants are required to hold a PhD in Environmental Engineering, Industrial Ecology, Environmental and Energy Systems, or an adjacent field relevant for the appointment, or have equivalent qualifications achieved abroad. The candidate must have completed the degree no more than three years before the application deadline.

Qualifications obtained earlier may be considered if there are special grounds, such as sick leave, parental leave, clinical service, service as a union representative, or similar. Good oral and written skills in English are required.

Assessment criteria

Considerable weight is given to research experience in the following areas related to the project:

• Biorefinery processes
• Life cycle assessment
• Techno-economic analysis
• Super structure models

Weight is given to experience of working with programing languages (e.g. Python or MATLAB) as well as to applicants’ academic merits and particularly to publications in international, peer-reviewed scientific journals in fields of relevance to the project.

In addition, weight is given to successful cooperation with partners external to academia. As personal qualities, we seek good collaboration skills, responsibility, analytical thinking and creativity as well as a positive attitude.            

Terms

Fixed-term full-time employment is limited to 2 years and accessed from October 2022 or by mutual agreement.

Further information
Karlstad University places great value on the enriching presence of diverse backgrounds and gender balance in the organisation. We welcome applicants with different cultural backgrounds, gender identities, functional abilities, and life experiences.

Application

Submit the application via the University’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application in accordance with the advertisement and for ensuring that the documentation allows for objective and qualitative assessments. A complete application should be submitted no later than the application deadline. An incomplete application may jeopardise a fair assessment of qualifications. Include two references, at least one of which should be from a current or previous supervisor.

The application should include the following documents:

• Cover letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and research interests in relation to the duties of the position
• CV
• List of publications
• Copies of relevant transcripts, degree certificates, certificates to verify previous employment, and letters of recommendation
• Copy of doctoral thesis and other relevant publications
• Information about language skills

Attach all the documents and publications you wish to be considered to the electronic application (do not just provide links). Name each uploaded document to clearly indicate its content.

Documents that cannot be submitted electronically, such as books or publications, should be sent to:

Karlstads universitet
Registrator
651 88 Karlstad

State the ref.no: REK2022/189

Application deadline: 2022-07-26

We look forward to your application!

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