Postdoctoral position in Environmental Chemistry (2 years)

Postdoctoral position in Environmental Chemistry (2 years)

The Department of Chemistry seeks a postdoctoral researcher who will work with recovery of carbon and organic material from hydrothermal carbonization filtrates. The employment is full-time for two years with access 1 March 2027, or by agreement.

Project description and working tasks 
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) converts wet, hard-to-handle residues (e.g. pulp mill sludge) into a carbon-rich hydrochar without prior drying. But much of the carbon ends up dissolved in the process water, the HTC filtrate, which today is discarded. In that filtrate a fourth product forms spontaneously: self-generated carbon (SGC), low-ash carbon microspheres whose surface and morphological properties are promising for energy storage and environmental applications. How does SGC form, and what in the filtrate chemistry governs it? That is what this project will examine.

Your work is part of RE-FIL, a four-year project funded by Formas, which aims to turn HTC filtrate from a problem into a resource. In parallel, the filtrate is used as substrate for microbial production of biodegradable plastics (PHA) together with our partners at Karlstad University, and the project asks whether the two recovery routes compete or can be combined. You will focus on SGC formation and filtrate chemistry, and contribute at the interface between the two routes through characterization of filtrates and products using chromatographic, spectroscopic and microscopic techniques.

You will join the Environmental Chemistry group at the Department of Chemistry, a research environment with direct access to the Trace Analysis Platform and the Vibrational Spectroscopy Core Facility, and a collaborative, international atmosphere. Your main advisor is Prof. Stina Jansson, with Assoc. Prof. Maria Sandberg (Karlstad University) as co-advisor. Some work may be carried out at Karlstad University.

Qualifications 
To be appointed under the postdoctoral agreement, the postdoctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirements must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the appointment decision.

To be appointed under the postdoctoral agreement, priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree prior to that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organisations, military service, or similar circumstances, as well as clinical practice or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.

Required qualifications
The doctoral degree should be in chemistry, environmental chemistry, materials chemistry, chemical engineering or a closely related subject. You have documented experience of designing and performing experimental laboratory work in chemistry, and of chemical or material characterisation using instrumental analytical techniques. Experience of at least one of chromatography–mass spectrometry (e.g. LC-MS/MS, GC-MS), elemental analysis (e.g. ICP-MS), or surface and material characterisation (e.g. BET, FTIR, XPS, SEM) is required. Your experience must be clearly described in your application, stating which techniques you have used, for what purpose, and to what extent.

Very good command of English, spoken and written, is required, as is a documented ability to publish scientific results, normally demonstrated by first-author publications in peer-reviewed international journals.

Desirable qualifications
It is a merit if you have experience of hydrothermal carbonization or other thermochemical conversion techniques, of experimental work at elevated temperature and pressure, or of working at pilot scale. Experience of surface chemistry and material characterisation, or of aqueous-phase organic chemistry, is also a merit, as is experience from an interdisciplinary or international research environment.

You plan and structure your own work and drive it forward on your own initiative, you approach unexpected results with a problem-solving mindset, you collaborate constructively with colleagues from different disciplines, and you communicate your results clearly in speech and writing.

Application 
A full application should include: 

• Cover letter (maximum two pages) in which you describe your qualifications and previous research experience, and how these fits with the advertised post doc project. Your motivation for applying should be clearly stated.
• Curriculum vitae (CV) with publication list.
• Verified copy of doctoral degree certificate or documentation that clarifies when the degree of doctor is expected to be obtained.
• Verified copies of other diplomas, list of completed academic courses and grades.
• Other documents that the applicant wishes to claim.

The application must be written in English or Swedish. The application is made through our electronic recruitment system. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format. Log in to the system and apply via the button at the end of this page. The closing date is 30 November 2026. Further details are provided by Prof. Stina Jansson, phone: +46-90 786 76 22, email: stina.jansson@umu.se

References will be requested prior to a potential interview.