PIONEER - Plasma catalysis for CO2 recycling and green chemistry - is a European Joint Doctorate  programme aimed to train a new generation of research leaders for a successful implementation of plasma catalysis for CO2 recycling in Europe. PIONEER is a consortium of 15 Universities and Institutes together with 6 industrial partners, based in Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, The Netherlands and United Kingdom.

15 PhD positions are open on varying topics that support the PIONEER programme, in the fields of plasma physics, spectroscopy, catalysis and chemistry. The descriptions of individual projects, as well as the application form, are available on the project website www.co2pioneer.eu .

Project tasks and objectives 

Recycling CO2 is a major environmental, economic and societal priority. In fact, CO2 could become a raw material for 'green' organic chemistry or fuel production. The use of plasma-catalysis to achieve efficient CO2 conversion is an innovative and ambitious approach, requiring multidisciplinary expertise. The PIONEER network join together world experts of plasma physics, catalysis, chemical engineering and numerical modelling to provide the most complete environment to educate a new generation of plasma-catalysis experts, capable of conceiving and realizing innovative processes based on CO2 recycling. Please visit the website of the project for more details: www.co2pioneer.eu

Background requirements: the applicant must be in possession of a Master of Science (MSc) or equivalent diploma in a relevant field, such as: Physics, Applied Physics, Physical Chemistry, Chemistry, Chemical engineering, Catalysis, Process Engineering, Spectroscopy, etc.

English language requirements: the candidate must be in possession of an English language certificate with a level sufficient according to the regulations of the two universities involved in the double PhD degree.

Each of the 15 ESRs will be working towards a double PhD degree awarded by two of the 12 European Universities involved. Each academic institution will host the ESR 18 months and receive an ESR from abroad for 18 months as well. In addition, short secondments of 1 or 2 months will be completed either at an industrial or academic partner.

Each ESR will be advised by a supervisory team that maximizes both scientific excellence as well as interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral collaboration. The 15 PIONEER ESRs will not only receive state-of-the-art science/technology training but will also benefit from a unique soft-skills training programme (Project management, Business development and marketing, Scientific Communication).

The full description of each position is available at the Pioneer website: www.co2pioneer.eu