Pre-Doctoral Contract: Heterogeneous Catalysis (ITQ (Valencia)- Synchrotron (Barcelona))
A predoctoral contract (1 year, extendable to 4 years) is offered to pursue a PhD at the interface of catalysis and spectroscopy. The project, funded by by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, It will be jointly executed by the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, Valencia) and the ALBA-CELLS Synchrotron Light facility (Barcelona, Spain).
The main objective is the fundamental understanding of the structure and dynamics of metal species as active sites for catalytic reactions in the gas phase to valorize alternative carbon feedstocks to petroleum.
Candidates must possess a bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Materials Science/Physics, Chemical Engineering or a related discipline. The average grade must be equal to or greater than 8/10.
The successful candidate will undergo research periods at both the ITQ (precision materials synthesis, characterization and catalytic testing) and ALBA (commissioning and optimization of spectroscopic cells, X-ray absorption-diffraction experiments and structural analysis at the atomic level in the most recent NOTOS beamline). The Doctoral Thesis will be associated with the Doctoral Program "Sustainable Chemistry" of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV); they must also have (or be about to obtain) a Master's degree. Good written and oral communication skills in English are necessary.
Those interested should send their CV, academic transcript and letter of motivation by email to Dr. Gonzalo Prieto (prieto@itq.upv.es) by 1 September 2019.