Postdoc Policy Advisor (x/f/m)

Who wishes to work with experts across the EU to develop and provide independent science-based advice for climate and energy policy makers in the EU institutions and in The Netherlands.

As a Postdoctoral Policy Advisor, you will have an outgoing personality, and a broad interest in energy and environmental policies at EU level.

EASAC related tasks (approximately 50% of your time)

You will support the EASAC project director in producing science-based advice for energy and climate policy makers. Your work will focus primarily on EU policies and legislation that aim to deliver EU commitments to the energy transition. (Future research priority considerations will be largely left to others.)

Your work will include :

a. Participation in discussions and online exchanges with experts in EASAC Working Groups

b. Contributing to EASAC reports and to Commentaries that update specific aspects of recent EASAC reports on which policies are evolving. This will often involve critical analysis of the literature on energy-related issues.

c Writing scientific commentaries and papers, together with co-authors from EASAC, based on EASAC’s work, with the aim to publish these in scientific journals.

d. Organising events on energy topics in Brussels, NL, and other European countries;

DIFFER related tasks (approximately 50% of your time)

You will initiate and develop science-based policy advice services for policy makers in The Netherlands. Your work will focus on building networks within The Netherlands and across the EU, and on organizing events and workshops on key energy and climate policy topics. Together with other experts, you will draft briefing papers for national policy makers.

Postdoc Development and evaluation of novel porous photocatalytic sheets

Scientific aim:

Photocatalytic systems are highly promising solutions for green hydrogen production due to their simplicity and predicted low cost. However, commercial viability of these systems remains a challenge due to their low solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency and long-term stability for overall water splitting. In the frame of an EU project (i.e. PH2OTOgEN), we plan to mitigate these challenges through the introduction of biomass oxidation reactions that occur at lower potentials compared with the oxygen evolution reaction. Additionally, we aim to tune the selectivity of the biomass oxidation to high value products for accelerating the market introduction of photocatalytic hydrogen, contributing to both the European economy and the European Union’s efforts to mitigate climate change through their Hydrogen Accelerator strategy. During the project, we will benchmark a series of semiconductors and co-catalysts towards achieving 5% solar to hydrogen efficiency and 500 hours system stability. A demonstration of PH2OTOGEN’s technology of 500 cm2 will be produced and tested in outdoor conditions at the end of the project.

Responsibilities and tasks:

The research tasks are highly interdisciplinary and will perfectly align with emerging research lines and granted projects at DIFFER.

• Synthesis of emerging photoabsorbers with narrow band gap.
• Development and scaling up of porous photocatalytic sheets.
• Preparation of photoacatalytic and photoelectrochemical experiments.
• Evaluation of gas products with GC and/or QMS and liquid products by HPLC and/or FTIR.
• Physical-, chemical- and structural characterization (UV-Vis, XRD, XPS, SEM) of the developed materials.
• Preparation of scientific papers and conference communications.
• Supervision of bachelor and master students.
• Contribution to the scientific and collaborative research environment at DIFFER.

PhD position Plasma Catalytic Technology for green nitrogen oxide sythesis

In view of the climate goals many industrial processes need to be electrified to reduce their carbon footprint. The goal of this project is to set the base for the development of an alternative low carbon footprint route, to produce nitric oxides (NOx), circumventing the traditional route via nitrogen fixation through ammonia (Haber-Bosch) and subsequent ammonia oxidation (Ostwald) in which the produced ammonia is burned to NO and water.

The approach is to produce NOx directly from the elements (N2 and O2) or with other sources of oxygen, e.g. oxidizing catalysts. Plasma technology will be utilized in combination with a catalyst. The systematic study of catalyst candidates for plasma based N2 activation to produce NO is a novel innovative approach which shall be followed exploiting the knowledge about catalysts useful for O and O2 activation.

Task of PhD

• Plasma-catalytic reactor design
• Plasma experiments on laboratory scale, supported with and without catalyst candidates
• Operation of various plasma diagnostics to determine species concentration in plasma phase
• In silico simulations of the plasma-catalytic reactor

Lab technician mechatronics

What are you going to do?

As a lab technician you will oversee the design and operation of experimental equipment. You will be part of an international and diverse team of scientific staff and other technical staff. You are challenged to find creative solutions to advance scientific research at a world leading level.

Tasks & responsibilities:

• Design, build and maintain diverse experimental setups with an emphasis on control and electronics (mechatronics) in the field of solar fuels.
• Oversee usage, operation and maintenance of instruments. Instruct new users and serve as primary contact in case of issues. Organize maintenance and repairs (in case of defective equipment), order consumables and instrument parts and oversee installation thereof.
• Advise in the purchase of new research equipment. Keep updated on novel equipment and processes on the market and advise your supervisor and colleagues about innovations and possible applications into our (future) research.
• Document the experimental setups (e.g. electronic schematics in WSCAD, user instructions and safety).
• Introduce new team members to lab (safety) procedures.
• Participate in meetings on research, infrastructure, organization and safety.
• Contribute in a pro-active way to a positive safety culture

Postdoc Solar Fuels

Scientific aim:

Electrochemical materials and interfaces are present in many energy systems, such as fuel cells, batteries, electrochromic windows and water splitting devices. The performance of such devices is strongly related to the materials and interface properties. Therefore, understanding and tuning of these properties are crucial in order to reach highest performance and to supply alternative, sustainable energy solutions for the future.

In the group “Electrochemical Materials and Interfaces (EMI)”, we focus on the fabrication, characterization, and optimization of photo-/electrochemical materials and interfaces. We are combining in a highly multidisciplinary approach experiments with modeling & simulations. This allows us to elucidate the limitations in the materials and at the interface and to design materials and interfaces with improved performance.

In this vacancy, we are looking for an experimental Post Doc who can strengthen our team in electrochemistry and operando spectroscopy.

Responsibilities and tasks:

• Organizing and executing own research projects
• Contributing to research projects from colleagues and collaborators
• Supervising and co-supervising of students (PhD, Master, Bachelor, interns)
• Organizing the lab together with the lab technicians
• Collaborating with modeling colleagues from the same group: scientific discussions, exchange of data, etc.
• Writing and contributing to proposals
• Disseminating of research output at conferences and with scientific papers