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Departmental Vacancies

There are various opportunities for working here and the department employs academic, research, secretarial and technical staff, and frequently has funded PhD and Research Associate positions available. Current vacancies are listed below.

Post Doctoral Research Associates

Research Associate- Kinetic Studies using Microreactors Platform

The Department of Chemical Engineering is seeking a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) for an EPSRC funded project on catalytic transformation of bio-derived platform molecules. 

The project is in collaboration with Cardiff University and the University of Liverpool - thus providing an outstanding environment for interdisciplinary research and team working.  The diverse expertise of the team members includes catalytic chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, microreactor technology, systems engineering and in-situ spectroscopy.  The overall aim of this project is the rapid development and evaluation of novel catalysts and catalyst processes for conversion of biomass to bulk and specialty chemicals.  This will be underpinned by kinetic studies performed in rapid, iterative fashion by combining microreactor experiments with experimental design/optimisation modelling.  Techniques of model-based design of experiments, parameter estimation, multi-objective optimisation and global optimisation will be used to achieve the aims of the project. 

The PDRA will work closely with researchers performing the experiments to implement and test the modelling and optimisation results.  The post also involves some teaching in the undergraduate labs in the UCL chemical engineering department, providing the PDRA with a well-rounded experience in a world-leading higher education academic environment.

The post is funded for 24 months in the first instance and is available immediately. 

Further details can be found here.

For enquires please contact the Departmental Administrator, Caroline Lenihan, on c.lenihan@ucl.ac.uk

Closing date: 19 June 2013

PhD studentships

For general PhD information, contact the Postgraduate Administrator Mrs Pattie Markey

1. Fully funded PhD studentship available for UK students:

PhD Studentship in Computational Catalysis

The Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London (UCL) is seeking a Graduate Student for the theoretical investigation of catalytic processes with applications in the energy and environmental fields. The overall aim of the project is to employ first-principles methods and kinetic modelling approaches in a multiscale modelling framework, for the investigation of chemical pathways and kinetics in catalytic systems, and the design of optimal catalysts.

The chemistry of interest in this studentship will be hydrogenation of CO2 on Cu/ZnO catalysts to produce methanol, an important problem in CO2 utilisation. The graduate student will perform density functional theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate the underlying pathways of this chemistry, followed by kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations to analyse the effect of nanoparticle size and geometry. These calculations will be used to gain insight into the design of optimal catalysts. Based on the predicted performance of the latter, the feasibility of large scale CO2 hydrogenation to methanol will be evaluated.

This project will be carried out in collaboration with researchers at the UK Catalysis Hub, which will provide opportunities for interactions with leading groups in the catalysis field.

The candidate will have or be expected to obtain an excellent first degree in Chemical Engineering, or equivalent. Ability to analyse and solve open-ended engineering problems and develop simulation methodologies is essential. Knowledge of FORTRAN or C programming languages, as well as Matlab, and expertise in chemical reaction engineering are desirable. The candidate is expected to have experience in Chemical Engineering. Effective written and verbal communication skills, time-management skills and ability to work in a team are also important. The post is only open to UK/EU citizens.

Further details can be found here.

For enquires please contact Dr Michail Stamatakis: m.stamatakis@ucl.ac.uk. 

Closing date: 14 June 2013

2. Fully funded PhD studentship available for UK or EU students:

PhD studentship on liquid-liquid flows (MEMPHIS project)

Applications are invited for a PhD position in the Department of Chemical Engineering at UCL. This post is part of a £5M EPSRC Programme Grant that will harness the synergy between world-leading scientists from four prestigious institutions: Imperial College, Birmingham, Nottingham and UCL, to create the next generation modelling tools for complex multiphase flows. This will require a programme of focused, multi-scale experiments on multiphase flows to validate and update numerical codes.

The project will focus on the study of liquid-liquid pipe flows and the transition from stratified to dispersed patterns. Wave properties and the evolution of the liquid-liquid interface with time will be investigated using a variety of instrumentation while flow velocities and turbulence properties will be measured using particle image velocimetry. As part of the project modifications to the existing flow facility and choice of appropriate fluids will be required for high quality velocity measurement close to the wall and the interface. Results from targeted experiments will help formulate the models being developed in MEMPHIS.

The candidate will have or be expected to obtain an excellent first degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering or related subject area.

For enquiries please contact Dr Panagiota Angeli, p.angeli@ucl.ac.uk

Further details can be found here.

Closing date: When filled

3. Fully funded PhD studentship available for UK or EU students:

Continuous Microfluidic Crystallisation for the Synthesis of Nanoparticles 

There is a real need to develop universal, efficient and potentially scalable methods to reproducibly and stably engineer nanomaterials with controllable particle size, size distribution, morphology and high yield. Thus, the scope of the research project is to investigate continuous flow nanoparticle synthesis using conventional heating as well as microwave irradiation to synthesise reproducibly high quality nanoparticles. Another, longer term objective is to pave the way for understanding the mechanism of nucleation and growth, in order to control shape, size and composition of nanoparticles. The researcher will be expected to design and commission microchannel devices to achieve crystallisation under continuous flow conditions. Characterisation will be performed by particle size analysis equipment, TEM, XRD, DLS. Mathematical modelling of crystallisation will be employed to address aspects such as hydrodynamics, nucleation/growth kinetics.
The candidate should have, or expect to obtain, a first-class MEng, MSc or equivalent degree in Chemical Engineering or related discipline.

For enquires please contact Prof Asterios Gavriilidis: a.gavriilidis@ucl.ac.uk

Closing date: When filled

Page last modified on 20 may 13 22:00