PhD position in organic and catalytic chemistry Agrotechnology and Food
Sciences Group Valorisation of Plant Production Chains
Wageningen, (Gelderland) , 38 hours per week
Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group
Job description
The depletion in fossil feedstocks, increasing oil prices and the ecological
problems associated with CO2 emissions are forcing the development of alternative resources for energy, transport fuels and chemicals: the replacement of fossil resources with CO2 neutral biomass. Refinement of crude oil yields hydrocarbons as primary products, such as ethylene and benzene. The introduction of hetero atoms like nitrogen into these compounds, using reagents such as ammonia, is a cumbersome process. Conversely, many products formed in plants often contain this type of
functionality. Therefore it is attractive to exploit this feature in order to by-pass the preparation of these reagents, as well as eliminating various process steps by utilising suitable biomass based precursors for the production of chemicals.
This project proposes to develop a novel approach for the production of a number of nitrogen containing functionalised industrial chemicals such as acrylonitrile and pyrrolidine, using glutamic acid as the starting material. Currently synthesis towards these requires the production of, and reaction with, ammonia, which requires large amounts of (fossil) energy and raw materials. Our approach uses glutamic acid as a suitable raw material with apt functionality together with catalytic technology for the synthesis of a number of nitrogen functionalised chemicals. Gluten, co-product of bio-ethanol production, is a rich source of glutamic acid. It is anticipated that the volume of gluten will grow considerably in the next 5 – 10 years.
This is a project of 4 years, after 1 year progress will be evaluated for admission to the academic promotion.
Requirements
Required education/skills: University Graduate
University education with completed MSc in a chemical science, or comparable curriculum. A strong background in (organic) synthetic chemistry, knowledge of (bio-) catalysis and separation techniques and/or technology is a prerequisite.
Job type: Research / Advising
Workfield(s) :
- Research trainees, non-tenured lecturers, researchers( Scientific discipline: Natural Sciences)
Organization
Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group
Valorisation of Plant Production Chains
AFSG is the organisation for development and transfer of knowledge in the field of sustainable applications of agro-components for safe and healthy food and non-food products.
Wageningen University, Chair of Valorisation of Plant Production Chains (WU-VPPC) is a multidisciplinary research group within the Agrotechnology and Food Science Group (AFSG) performing scientific and applied research aiming at the development of environmentally sound (bio)chemical, enzymatic and biological conversion and fermentation processes. Key components of the research are the definition of measures to reduce industrial energy consumption on a global scale, to fully exploit available and as yet uncovered cheap resources of agricultural waste streams, and to decrease CO2 emissions and pollution. For this purpose a large network has been built
with a number of Wageningen (including Organic Chemistry and AFSG-WUR, Biobased Products), national and international University groups, industries and governmental bodies.
Conditions of employment
Estimated maximum salary per month: eur 1500 - 2000
Salary: scale 10.
Maximum salary amount in Euro's a month 2472
Employment basis: Temporary for specified period
Duration of the contract: 1 3 years
Maximum hours per week: 38
Additional Information
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from:
prof. Johan Sanders
Telephone number: 31 (0)317 476332
E-mail address: johan.sanders@ wur.nl
Application
*You can apply for this job before 07-12-2006 (dd-mm-yyyy) by sending your application to:*
WUR - AFSG
bode 156
K. Karin den Ridder
P.O. Box 8129
6700 EV Wageningen
Netherlands
E-mail: afsg-vacatures@ wur.nl
When applying for this job always mention the vacancynumber AFSG 06.101.
[sursa beasiswa]
