Project description

Many industrial processes produce large amounts of aqueous waste streams, contaminated with, e.g. solvents or other organic components. Treatment of these streams requires substantial amounts of energy and chemicals. Implementation of nanofiltration membranes can lead to significant energy savings. To develop suitable ceramic nanofiltration membranes, a new international project has started in Q2, 2022.

In this project novel, ceramic organic solvent nanofiltration membranes with small pore sizes and high throughputs, as compared to polymeric membranes, will be developed by a novel combination of sol-gel coating and atomic layer deposition (ALD).

The Inorganic Membranes (IM) group and the Integrated Devices and Systems group (IDS) of the University of Twente work close together in this project. A PhD student will work in both groups and also work together with a Postdoc in the Institute Européen des Membranes (IEM, Montpellier, France). IEM is a leading research center in the field of membrane science and related materials and processes.

• For this position, we are searching for a person who wants to play a key role in a result-oriented project.
• You are a highly motivated and enthusiastic researcher (F/M), having a MSc degree in chemical engineering or a closely related subject area.
• We encourage strong communication skills and interest in sharing knowledge, presenting at conferences and (project) meetings, and publication in peer-reviewed journals.
• Creativity, with a hands-on mentality, is valued highly. Proficiency in English is required, both spoken and written.

• We offer a fulltime PhD position for four years.
• The salary will range from € 2.541 (1st year) to € 3.247 (4th year) per month, plus a holiday allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8,3%.
• The number of holiday hours for full-time employment is 232 hours per calendar year.
• We provide excellent mentorship and a stimulating, state-of-the-art research environment with world-class research facilities.
• We offer an excellent and stimulating scientific environment with an attractive campus and lots of facilities for sports and leisure. The university provides a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda.
• The research will result in a Ph.D. thesis at the end of the employment period.

The Inorganic Membrane group is part of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, which offers advanced characterization and fabrication tools on nanoscale, as well as a stimulating environment with more than 250 PhD students working on various aspects of nanoscience and technology.