Business Developer

Als Business Developer ben je primair verantwoordelijk voor het samenbrengen van ons onderzoek, het bedrijfsleven en financiering, naast het opstarten, onderhouden en verbeteren van onze relaties met commerciële partijen. Je speelt een sleutelrol in het opschalen van DIFFER’s onderzoekprogramma’s. Hierdoor vertaal je wetenschappelijke kennis naar maatschappelijke en economische impact.

In de praktijk houdt het in dat je:

• DIFFER’s commerciële netwerk, bestaande uit de industrie en hightech startups, onderhoudt en uitbreidt om nieuwe samenwerkingen tot stand te brengen. Bijvoorbeeld ten behoeve van de realisatie van ons Self-Driving Lab programma, of het ontwikkelen van publiek-private samenwerkingen rondom kernfusie;
• Strategisch advies geeft over marktpotentieel en routes naar toepassing van onderzoek dat wordt uitgevoerd bij DIFFER. Je ontwikkelt businesscases en een valorisatiestrategie voor onze onderzoekslijnen, waarbij het Self-Driving Lab programma momenteel prioriteit heeft;
• In samenwerking met industriële partners nieuwe projectkansen initieert, en DIFFER positioneert in nationale en Europese innovatie-ecosystemen;
• DIFFER vertegenwoordigt op conferenties en in (inter)nationale netwerken zoals Fusion Now, CO2 Value Europe, en communities voor autonome labs.

PhD in Machine Learning for Materials Discovery in Self-Driving labs

Accelerating the discovery of clean energy materials requires integrating experimental research with machine learning. Self-Driving Laboratories (SDLs) are emerging research environments where experiments are planned, executed, and analyzed in closed-loop workflows that combine automated experimentation with AI-driven decision-making. At DIFFER, in close collaboration with our external partners, we are developing an SDL dedicated to accelerated discovery of functional energy materials.

In this PhD project, you will develop machine learning models that learn from high-throughput experimental datasets to uncover structure–property relationships and guide the selection of new experiments. The datasets will include measurements obtained from automated synthesis and optical/electrical characterization workflows. You will be embedded in the AMD research group, and work closely with experimental collaborators to ensure that model development aligns with data quality, measurement conditions, and evolving research priorities.

The SDL operates as a closed-loop system in which each experiment informs the next. Your models will first be used to analyze completed experiments and identify trends, and later integrated into active learning and Bayesian optimization frameworks to suggest which experiments should be performed next. Through this integration, your work will directly shape the experimental strategy of the SDL and accelerate the discovery of new materials.

This position offers a unique opportunity to conduct research at the interface of machine learning, materials science, and autonomous experimentation, contributing to the development of next-generation approaches for data-driven clean energy research.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement machine learning models to analyze and predict materials properties and performance trends from high-throughput experimental data.
• Design and evaluate feature engineering and data representation strategies for heterogeneous datasets obtained from material synthesis, characterization, and functional testing.
• Apply uncertainty-aware modeling, active learning, and Bayesian optimization approaches to guide experiment selection and support closed-loop decision-making in the SDL.
• Work closely with collaborators to align model development with measurement workflows, data availability, and evolving experimental priorities.
• Ensure reproducible and well-documented analysis practices and contribute to FAIR-aligned data interpretation.
• Explore advanced model families (e.g., generative models or graph/equivariant neural networks) to accelerate candidate discovery and hypothesis generation.
• Disseminate research findings through publications, conference presentations, and consortium meetings.
• Supervise junior student projects where appropriate.
• Complete and defend a PhD thesis within four years.

Manager Finance & Control

Als Manager Finance & Control bij DIFFER combineer je financiële eindverantwoordelijkheid met een stevige control functie. Je geeft leiding aan de financiële afdeling, neemt als adviseur deel aan het MT en ondersteunt projectleiders vanuit het onderzoek. Je bent de vraagbaak voor de hele organisatie voor wat betreft het financiële beleid en draagt rechstreeks bij aan het (financiële) succes van het onderzoek dat DIFFER uitvoert.

Concreet houd je je onder meer bezig met:

• Leidinggeven aan de financiële afdeling en zorgdragen voor een positief werkklimaat met aandacht voor de persoonlijk ontwikkeling van het team;
• Regie en coördinatie op de Planning & Control (P&C) cyclus waarbij je analyseert, adviseert en rapporteert over de verschillende P&C producten (begroting, tertiaalrapportages en jaarrekening);
• Toezien op een juiste en volledige gegevensverantwoording voor de bedrijfsvoering door het DIFFER management;
• Opstellen van de financiële rapportages, onder meer in overleg met de overkoepelende onderzoeksinstelling NWO-i;
• Adviseren van het MT en projectleiders vanuit het onderzoek over de financiële voortgang van de onderzoeksprojecten en ervoor zorgen dat deze voldoen aan de subsidievoorwaarden, procedures en wet- en regelgeving;
• Ontwikkelen, inrichten, beheren en bewaken van de structuur en werking van projectcontrol en de bijbehorende (financiële) processen.

Affiniteit met onderzoek en techniek helpt om de financiële uitvoering van projecten te begrijpen. Daarbij volg je nieuwe ontwikkelingen in jouw vakgebied. Als hoofd van de afdeling ben je verantwoordelijk voor de dagelijkse aansturing van 7 collega’s, bestaande uit project control, senior medewerker financiën, crediteuren administratie en inkoop.

PhD in Carbon Capture and Conversion in Electrochemical Membrane Reactors

The development of integrated CO₂ capture and conversion as a cornerstone of the net-zero transition is driven by ambitious goals and targets set by the European Commission, among others, under the European Green Deal. Achieving these targets is expected to create strong business cases, where carbon is no longer a costly liability but a valuable feedstock for sustainable fuels and chemicals. Based on these ambitions, the market for CO₂ capture and conversion technologies in Europe alone will grow into major opportunity, making it highly attractive for the European manufacturing and chemical industries to invest. However, the technology is not yet fully mature, which creates technical, economic, and scale-up risks during implementation. These uncertainties result in higher-than-expected costs and limit widespread adoption. Breakthrough innovations are therefore needed across the entire value chain—from efficient capture technologies to advanced catalytic processes—to reduce risks and accelerate cost reductions.

HyCARB is a national project in which multiple academic and industrial partners join forces to develop innovative and competitive processes for CO₂ utilization, with a strong focus on producing fuels and materials directly from industrial waste gases and CO₂ using renewable energy and green hydrogen. The aim is to significantly reduce emissions while strengthening the competitive position of the EU chemical sectors in a net-zero world https://www.tno.nl/en/newsroom/2025/07/significant-impulse-sustainable-industry/. This PhD position is part of HyCARB project and it will focus on the development and evaluation of advanced catalytic materials and reactor concepts for integrated CO₂ capture and conversion.

About the group: The work will be carried out in the Catalytic and Electrochemical Processes for Electrochemical Interfaces group at DIFFER, led by Michail (Mihalis) Tsampas. The research work in the group is devoted to electrochemical membrane reactors for solar fuel production and the electrification of the chemical industry. Our work spans the full spectrum from material and component development to the design and operation of laboratory-scale systems, with the overarching goal of developing scalable solutions. We utilize a variety of polymeric and ceramic ion-conducting materials to couple renewable energy-driven processes with applications such as water electrolysis, nitrogen and carbon dioxide fixation.

PhD: Carbon Conversion in Elevated Temperature Electrochemical Membrane Reactors

The development of integrated CO₂ capture and conversion as a cornerstone of the net-zero transition is driven by ambitious goals and targets set by the European Commission, among others, under the European Green Deal. Achieving these targets is expected to create strong business cases, where carbon is no longer a costly liability but a valuable feedstock for sustainable fuels and chemicals. Based on these ambitions, the market for CO₂ capture and conversion technologies in Europe alone will grow into major opportunity, making it highly attractive for the European manufacturing and chemical industries to invest. However, the technology is not yet fully mature, which creates technical, economic, and scale-up risks during implementation. These uncertainties result in higher-than-expected costs and limit widespread adoption. Breakthrough innovations are therefore needed across the entire value chain—from efficient capture technologies to advanced catalytic processes—to reduce risks and accelerate cost reductions.

HyCARB is a national project in which multiple academic and industrial partners join forces to develop innovative and competitive processes for CO₂ utilization, with a strong focus on producing fuels and materials directly from industrial waste gases and CO₂ using renewable energy and green hydrogen. The aim is to significantly reduce emissions while strengthening the competitive position of the EU chemical sectors in a net-zero world https://www.tno.nl/en/newsroom/2025/07/significant-impulse-sustainable-industry/. This PhD position is part of HyCARB project and it will focus on the development and evaluation of advanced materials, cell architectures and reactor concepts for CO2 conversion to syngas and high added value products.

About the group: The work will be carried out in the Catalytic and Electrochemical Processes for Electrochemical Interfaces group at DIFFER, led by Michail (Mihalis) Tsampas. The research work in the group is devoted to electrochemical membrane reactors for solar fuel production and the electrification of the chemical industry. Our work spans the full spectrum from material and component development to the design and operation of laboratory-scale systems, with the overarching goal of developing scalable solutions. We utilize a variety of polymeric and ceramic ion-conducting materials to couple renewable energy-driven processes with applications such as water electrolysis, nitrogen and carbon dioxide fixation.