Job details

Recruitment result
Place of work

INSITUTE OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY PAS Team 28 “Catalysis for sustainable energy production and environmental protection, CatSEE”

Funding institution

NATIONAL SCIENCE CENTRE

Project description

Project title, type and project number

National Science Center, OPUS-26 Project No. UMO-2023/51/B/ST5/00752 entitled “Surface-Interface engineering in constructing multi-dimensional functional hybrid piezophotocatalysts for redox selective organic synthesis in flow”, 27/2024

Project leader

Prof. dr hab. inż. Juan Carlos Colmenares Quintero

Description

This project aims to develop a novel method for the transformation of natural polymers (e.g., cellulose and chitosan) into valuable porous supports to manage the incorporation of plasmonic  nanophotocatalysts with the co-photocatalytic piezoelectric element (earth abundant ZnO) to strengthen the overall physicochemical properties of those hybrids. New catalytic materials possessing excellent piezophotocatalytic redox properties to assist continuous flow photo-redox processes in obtaining high-value chemicals from biomass-inspired compounds. The objective is to prepare metal-containing porous carbon-based piezophotocatalytic materials through the physicochemical effects of low/high-frequency sonication (e.g., effective mass transfer, microstreaming, cross-linked radical polymerization, etc, effects often inaccessible through conventional methods) as a promising approach to disruptively improve the outcomes of conventional methods (e.g, hydro(solvo)thermal, sol-gel method). It will be carried out the study of the physicochemical properties of the hybrid materials (before and after (sono)-(photo)-catalytic test reactions), and testing them in the selective redox sonophotocatalytic C-C and/or C-O sonophoto-reductive coupling of biomass-inspired model compounds (in flow liquid-phase) as a futuristic approach of organic waste valorisation. It will be carried out, a systematic basic research of the effect of green and unconventional source of ultrasonic energy on the synthesis of the hybrid materials, and its effect on the final optimisation of the synthesis method conditions. To get insight into the mechanism of ultrasound-assisted methods, the whole spectrum of materials characterization techniques,  basic kinetic studies and piezophotocatalysts’ stability/recycling studies (using the appropriate flow (sono)-(photo)-reactors) will be carried out. The use of ultrasound-based procedures offer a facile, versatile synthetic tool for the preparation of nanopiezophotocatalysts, often inaccessible through conventional methods.

Job description

Number of vacancies

1

Key responsibilities include

Design/modeling of the methods for piezophotocatalysts' preparation, partially responsible for materials synthesis, their characterization and testing, results elaboration and discussion, help with the organization of the project scientific activities, publications/conferences preparation, bibliographical data searching/analysis.

Basic responsibilities are as follow:

  • Scientific initiative and contribution through regular reporting and publishing, as well as presenting at group meetings, national and international conferences;
  • Providing help and supervision to junior members of the group;
  • Contribution to the efficient functioning of the lab, including necessary organizational tasks.
Offer

Position in the project

Postdoctoral reseacher

Job type

Type of contract: temporary, Status: full-time empoyment, Hours Per Week: 40

Salary

around 9.600,00 PLN gross/month

Position starts on

1.10.2024

Maximum planned period of contract/stipend agreement

24 months (with a prolongation option depending on funds and project needs).

We offer

We offer a post-doctoral position (full-time employment) in the Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS with a gross salary of around around 9.600,00 PLN gross/month h financed from the NCN OPUS-26 Project No. UMO-2023/51/B/ST5/00752.  International cooperation with experienced researchers. Autonomous  position in the professional and dynamically developing innovative team. The successful candidate is expected to start work within the project: the earliest 01.10.2024, the latest 02.01.2025. 100% of the work time of the postdoc researcher will be devoted to the realization of the proposed project.

Career development prospects at IPC PAS

The successful candidate will benefit in form of new knowledge and methods added to his/her toolbox. The project deals with photocatalysis, piezocatalysis, sonochemistry, flow reactors, nanomaterials, and physical chemistry phenomena in general, so any profile of candidate will find some new knowledge to be gained upon realization of the project.

We plan to publish the results of the work in high impact factor journals.

The successful candidate will be able to take advantage of all programs in the IPC PAS, including Young Scientists of IPC PAS competition and Mobility of Young Scientists of IPC PAS competition.

Institute provides an opportunity to participate in ERASMUS+ programme.

Requirements

Scientific discipline

Chemistry, chemical engineering, catalysis, or similar fields.

Scientific profile of a candidate

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Requirements

  1. PhD degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, catalysis sciences, obtained no earlier than 7 years before the starting year of the employment in the project (this period might be longer due to family reasons (according to NCN rules).
  2. Publication record and rich (mobility) scientific experience.
  3. Ability to work independently as well as in a group.
  4. Significant research achievements in carbonbased photocatalysis (materials synthesis and characterization) and plasmonic photocatalysis, nanostructured multidimensional materials synthesis, organic chemistry synthesis in particular redox processes, sonochemistry.
  5. Familiar with heterogeneous catalysts.’ characterization techniques such as: microscopic imaging (SEM and HRTEM), XPS, XRD, chemisorption techniques, DR UV-Vis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, photoluminescence as well as AFM/STM, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Moreover, experience is desired in sonochemistry and flow reactors design/modeling.
  6. Ability to communicate fluently in English (written and spoken).
  7. Strong motivation to work and pursue scientific questions, creativity, and analytical thinking.
  8. Research experience in related fields will be advantageous.
  9. Experience in leveraging best practices from research community;
  10. Experience in supervising and teaching students.

Key assessment criteria

The Commission will take into account the following criteria:

  • competencies of candidates for specific tasks in a research project, (max 70 points),
  • previous scientific achievements of candidates, (max  20 points),
  • awards and distinctions of the candidate resulting from the conducted research, (max  5 points).
  • presented opinions via. recommendation letters, (max  5 points).

The commission evaluates applications on a point scale.

Required documents
  • cover motivation letter,
  • professional curriculum vitae,
  • university degree diploma,
  • scan or photocopy of candidate's MSc and PhD degree,
  • a list of scientific achievements (publications, patents, conference presentations, etc.),
  • at least two letters of recommendation written by well-known scientists in the field.
Recruitment procedure

Complete application should include the following items: cover motivation letter, professional curriculum vitae, university degree diploma and PhD certificate, a list of scientific achievements (publications, patents, conference presentations, etc.), at least two letters of recommendation written by well-known scientist in the field. The application deadline is on the 02th of August 2024 12:00 pm.

• Top candidates will be invited for an online or in-person interview (on the 14th of August 2024). Good command of English is required. We reserve the right to contact and reply to only selected candidates.

• A position will be offered to the person who obtains the highest number of points.

• The results of the recruitment will be announced on the 06th of September 2024, 17:00 pm

• Employment will take place in accordance with the Employment policy of the Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS https://ichf.edu.pl/files/csr/ipc-procedures.pdf and the provisions of the competition documentation of the National Science Center (NSC) for the OPUS-26 contest https://ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/uchwaly-rady/2023/uchwala23_2023-zal1.pdf#page=53  

• The incomplete applications will not be considered.

• The results of the competition are made public.

• Candidates who have been issued a negative opinion by the Competition Committee or candidates not selected for employment have the right to appeal against the results of the evaluation. The appeal shall be lodged with the Director of the Institute within 7 days from the date of receipt of the appropriate information. The decision of the Director of the Institute shall be final.

• If the top candidate does not sign the contract, due to the resignation, we reserve the right to choose the next candidate from the ranking list.

Additional information

Candidate must meet formal requirements:

a) the project manager was not the supervisor or co-supervisor of her doctoral dissertation;

b) obtained a doctoral degree in an entity other than the entity where employment in this position is planned, or completed at least 10 months of continuous and documented postdoctoral internship in an entity other than the entity implementing the project and in a country other than the country of obtaining the doctoral degree;

c) will be employed for a period of no less than 6 months; d) during the period of receiving this remuneration will not receive any other remuneration from funds granted as direct costs from research projects financed under NCN competitions;

e) during the period of receiving this remuneration will not receive remuneration from another employer on the basis of an employment contract, including an employer based outside Poland;

 f) during the period of receiving this remuneration will not receive retirement benefits from the social insurance system

How to Apply: Send application directly to rekrutacja@ichf.edu.pl 

IMPORTANT! email subject: “Rekrutacja 27/2024”

Deadlines

Application deadline

2.08.2024 12:00

Deadline for the settlement of the competition

6.09.2024

Archival announcement. We would like to thank all candidates for their submitted applications.

Date of announcement: 13.06.2024

Join us