Marie Skłodowska - Curie - Postdoctoral Fellowship at IMDEA Energy Institute (Spain), Thermochemical Processes Unit

The Thermochemical Processes Unit at the IMDEA Energy Institute in Spain, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01) in 2021.

Before sending your application, please check the full description of the eligibility criteria that can be found in the webpage call.

Brief description of the institution:

The IMDEA Energy Institute is a Research Centre located in the town of Mostoles, in the region of Madrid (Spain), aimed at contributing to the establishment of an efficient and sustainable energy system with a high degree of decarbonisation, economically competitive and securing energy supply. Accordingly, research activities are oriented to fostering the development of renewable energies and clean energy technologies.

Being created in 2007, IMDEA Energy has experienced a fast growth reaching in a few years a relevant international position in R&D activities on energy topics. An essential factor for explaining this successful development has been the ability for attracting top level researchers, as well as the availability of new and excellent scientific infrastructures, favoring the achievement of outstanding scientific results.

The IMDEA Energy Institute has obtained the accreditation as ‘María de Maeztu’ Unit of Excellence, granted by the Spanish State Research Agency, which aim to identify and promote excellence in scientific research with high-impact carried out in cutting-edge R&D centers. The accredited centers stand out for the international notoriety of their scientific contributions, for their innovative capacity and for their intense relationship with the business sector. They are also world-class reference centers capable of attracting international talent.

http://www.energy.imdea.org/

1. Brief description of the Unit

The Thermochemical Processes Unit (TCPU) aims to develop catalysts and active materials for promoting some of the chemical transformations which are likely to play a relevant role in the production of more sustainable fuels and chemicals from a number of sources (biomass residues, plastic wastes and CO₂).

1. Project description

The project will be focused on the study and development of catalytic applications for new generations of nanostructured dendritic materials. In particular, it will be addressed the synthesis of solids with a dendritic superstructure, which is expected to provide them with high accessibility and complex pore networks, showing porosities with different pore size ranges and good connectivity. An important part of the work will comprise the characterization of the dendritic materials using advanced techniques, like high-resolution SEM and TEM, MAS NMR, determination of textural properties by adsorption-desorption of gases and assessment of the transport properties of vapours. A third and relevant task will be the preparation of multifunctional catalysts using the dendritic materials as supports of metallic active phases, as well as their testing in reactions affording the valorisation of both biomass residues and plastic wastes to obtain fuels and chemicals, according to the circular economy concept.

1. Research Area:

• Chemistry (CHE)
• Information Science and Engineering (ENG)

1. Applications: Deadline for submission of documents 31^st August 2021. Documents to be submitted:

• Complete curriculum vitae stating background, skills and a brief description emphasizing the relationship between the applicant CV and the research topic proposed.
• Letter of motivation including research interests.
• Two recommendation letters.