Postdoc in nitrocellulose characterization

Tasks

Do you want to build the scientific foundation for Swedish nitrocellulose? We are looking for a postdoc for the competence center Svenskt Krut at KTH, where academia, authorities, and industry together strengthen Sweden's capability in nitrocellulose (NC).

In the project, we are establishing a reliable analytical package for nitrocellulose. Your role is to develop and validate methods for NC's most important properties – including degree of substitution, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, moisture and residual acid content, as well as stability and energy content – and to be responsible for a comparative measurement study (round-robin) between KTH, FOI, and industry.

You will continuously characterize NC batches for a common sample bank, build up a reference database, and use AI-supported data analysis to compare qualities and identify deviations. The work takes place at the Institutionen för Fiber- och polymerteknologi and in close cooperation with FOI, with at least one longer working period there.

Qualifications

Requirements

• A completed doctoral degree or a foreign degree assessed to correspond to a doctoral degree. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than when the employment decision is made.
• Documented scientific skill in cellulose, fiber, or polymer chemistry, evidenced through publications.
• Experience with analytical methods such as elemental analysis, spectroscopy (e.g., FTIR), chromatography, or thermal analysis (e.g., DSC or calorimetry).
• Very good knowledge of English in speech and writing, as it is required in daily work.
• As a person, you are independent, proactive, and have good collaborative skills in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Swedish citizenship.

Meritorious

• At the closing date for applications, at most three years since the doctoral degree or a foreign degree assessed to correspond to a doctoral degree was obtained.
• Experience of statistics-based analysis of measurement data.
• Pedagogical ability.
• Awareness of diversity and equal treatment issues with a particular focus on gender equality.

We will place great emphasis on personal qualities.

Become a part of KTH

KTH shapes the future through education, research, and innovation. As a leading international technical university, we play an active role in driving and contributing to the transition to a sustainable society. Here, you are offered the opportunity to grow and develop in a creative and dynamic workplace with good working conditions and benefits. Equality, diversity, and equal opportunities are a matter of quality and an inherent part of KTH's values as a university and a government agency.

Read more about our benefits and what it is like to work and develop at KTH.

Trade union representatives

Contact details for trade union representatives.

Application

You apply via KTH's recruitment system. As an applicant, you are primarily responsible for ensuring that your application is complete when it is submitted.

The application must contain:

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copy of degree certificates and transcripts from your previous university studies. Translations to English or Swedish if the original documents are not issued in either of these languages.
• A brief account of why you want to conduct research, your academic interests, and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. max 2 pages long.

The application must reach KTH no later than the closing date for applications at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the employment

The employment is permanent, but for a maximum of two years.

A postdoc employment is a fixed-term qualifying position primarily focused on research, intended as a first career step after graduation.

Other

For information on the processing of personal data in connection with recruitment.

An employment at KTH may be subject to security clearance. If this is the case for this specific employment, a security clearance of the applicant will be conducted in accordance with the Security Protection Act (2018:585) after consent. In these cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved after security clearance.

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