For the second phase of the MCEC research programme, MCEC is looking for a PhD candidate for the research project Multiscale Structuring for 2-Step Catalysis & Sensing. More information about this project can be found here.

MCEC is looking for a highly motivated and creative PhD candidate who has:

• an excellent Master's degree or an international equivalent in the relevant fields of Chemistry, Physics, Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering;
• a strong interest in sustainable energy conversion;
• excellent research and scientific writing skills;
• perseverance and an independent, pro-active working style;
• the willingness to look beyond the borders of his or her own discipline and strong motivation to work in a multidisciplinary team;
• excellent collaboration and communication skills (written and verbally) in English.

Please note that the project is a Joint Doctorate project at Utrecht University and the University of Twente, meaning that the PhD candidate will spend his or her time at different Universities and will receive a Joint Doctorate Degree after finishing the project. More information about this can be found in the project description.

The candidate will be offered a full-time PhD position for 4 years, with an evaluation after one year. The candidate will be provided with generous funding for research and training costs. All PhD candidates will work in a truly international and interdisciplinary environment. This will provide them with an excellent basis and a strong network for a future career in the field of energy, in academia, industry as well as governance.

The gross salary ranges between €2,325 and €2,972 (scale P according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) gross per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8 % and a year-end bonus of 8.3 % per year. We offer a pension scheme, (partly paid) parental leave, collective insurance schemes and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). More information is available at: working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.

The Faculty of Science consists of six Departments: Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Information and Computing Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Mathematics. The Faculty is home to 6,500 students and nearly 1,500 staff and is internationally renowned for the quality of its research. The Faculty's academic programmes reflect developments in today's society. Read the overall impression 2016 of the Faculty of Science.

The Netherlands Center for Multiscale Catalytic Energy Conversion (MCEC) is a multidisciplinary research programme. Within this programme, chemists, physicists and engineers from Utrecht University (commissioner of the MCEC-program), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the University of Twente (UT) join forces in order to address one of the grand challenges that our society faces today: sustainable energy conversion. Different research teams work together to develop efficient processes for the conversion of renewable raw materials, such as non-edible biomass, waste and solar energy, fuels and chemical building blocks. MCEC gives academics the opportunity to work on important scientific topics in not previously existing partnerships, and thus creates the conditions for innovative, groundbreaking and multidisciplinary research, including both experimental and theoretical approaches. 

MCEC is a so-called Gravitation Programme, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). The programme is cofounded with a grant that has been awarded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND programme. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801359.