Flow Chemistry Lab Technician

The Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) is located at the vibrant Amsterdam Science Park. HIMS is one of eight institutes of the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Science. With around 140 employees, HIMS carries out internationally high-quality chemical research and provides education within various university programs. This is done in close cooperation with the medical, biotech, chemical, flavour & food, and high-tech industries.

The Synthesis & Catalysis theme encompasses organic synthesis and all aspects of catalysis, including homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, biocatalysis, flow chemistry, organocatalysis, and catalysis engineering. Projects range from fundamental to applied research.

The Flow Chemistry Group's mission is to expand the available chemical space by embracing technology to the fullest extent. The aim of the Flow Chemistry group (a.k.a. the Noël Research Group) is to build bridges between chemical engineering and organic synthetic chemistry. Consequently, long-standing problems in synthetic chemistry can be overcome, which includes scalability, gas-liquid reactions, photochemistry, electrochemistry and the generation and use of hazardous reagents. This allows us to effectively expand the available chemical space by bringing overlooked or avoided reagents into play.

For this research theme we are looking for a research lab technician (4-5 days). The lab technician should intensively collaborate with other technician, the scientific staff, as well as with the (PhD-) students and postdocs that perform the daily research.

Introduction

Do you enjoy working in an interdisciplinary research setting and do you want to be active in running cutting edge laboratories and supporting world leading scientists? The Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences is looking for a research laboratory technician in the Flow Chemistry group.

What are you going to do?

As a lab technician you will be in charge of the operation of advanced chemical laboratories and equipment. You will be part of a team of scientific staff and one other technician. You are challenged to find creative solutions to advance scientific research at a world leading level and guard the lab safety.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• help scientific staff to assemble, test, improve and operate routine and complex research infrastructure in the field of synthesis and catalysis chemistry
• keep updated on novel equipment and processes on the market and advise your supervisor about innovations and possible applications into our (future) research;
• exhibit the highest degree of reliability and accuracy to assure quality and reproducibility of results;
• perform daily management and organisation of the laboratory;
• instruct (in collaboration with the supervisor) PhD- and undergraduate students on laboratory work processes and a safe working environment;
• manage usage, operation and maintenance of instruments and instruct new users;
• Introduction to new team members in lab (safety) procedures and guarding the implementation;
• travel to workshops, collaborators and other universities in the Netherlands may be occasionally required;
• keep updated with relevant literature related to the research field;
• actively participate in meetings on research, infrastructure, organization and/or safety;
• negotiate with suppliers, order consumables and instrument parts and oversee assembly thereof.
• Contribute to the general technical skill set of the institute and organizational tasks (First aid, BHV, software superusers etc);
• Occasionally participate in outreach activities like lab tours or preparing demo's.

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The general requirements are:

• Bachelor degree (HBO or WO) in chemical engineering or chemistry
• A strong commitment to safety and the safety of others
• Experience in maintenance of pumps, mass flow controllers and other chemical equipment like rotavaps, mass spectrometers
• Inline analytical technology is crucial
• Knowledge of programming and electronics and an interest in programming is a plus
• Strong team-player with excellent interpersonal skills
• Hands-on problem solving mentality
• Good time- and project-management skills
• Competent with computers (software, hardware, networks)
• Good communication skills in both Dutch and English (many of the tasks involve interactions with Dutch companies and service providers).

We offer a temporary employment contract for 30.4-38.00 hours per week for a period of 12 months. The preferred starting date is as soon as possible. If we assess your performance positive, a permanent contract will follow.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,818- 3,764 (scale 8) . This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Technicus onderw.- en onderz.gebonden is applicable. For this position we can not sponsor a visa. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;
• multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• partly paid parental leave;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;

Faculty of Science

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS) is one of eight institutes of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) Faculty of Science. HIMS performs internationally recognized chemistry and molecular research, curiosity driven as well as application driven. This is done in close cooperation with the chemical, flavor & food, medical and high-tech industries. Research is organized into four themes: Analytical Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, Synthesis & Catalysis and Molecular Photonics.

The Synthesis & Catalysis encompasses organic synthesis and all aspects of catalysis, including homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, biocatalysis, organocatalysis, and catalysis engineering. Projects range from fundamental to applied research, with strong valorization aspects. The Synthesis & Catalysis represents these research groups:

The Flow Chemistry Group's mission is to expand the available chemical space by embracing technology to the fullest extent. The aim of the Flow Chemistry group (a.k.a. the Noël Research Group) is to build bridges between chemical engineering and organic synthetic chemistry. Consequently, long-standing problems in synthetic chemistry can be overcome, which includes scalability, gas-liquid reactions, photochemistry, electrochemistry and the generation and use of hazardous reagents. This allows us to effectively expand the available chemical space by bringing overlooked or avoided.

Any questions?

Do you have any questions or do you require additional information? Please contact:

• Prof. dr. ing. Timothy Noel, E-mail: t.noel@uva.nl