Open Position 1: Phd Student (4 Years) on Mofs for Mechanical Energy Harvesting

‘Constructing metal-organic frameworks for memories and mechanical energy harvesting: Open positions for PhD students and postdocs’

Open Position 1: PhD student (4 years) on MOFs for mechanical energy harvesting

Applied Sciences

The Faculty of Applied Sciences is the largest faculty of TU Delft, with around 550 scientists, a support staff of 250 and 1,800 students. The faculty conducts fundamental, application-oriented research and offers scientific education at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels. The faculty is active in the fields of Life and Health Science & Technology, Nanoscience, Chemical Engineering, Radiation Science & Technology, and Applied Physics.

The Department of Chemical Engineering promotes the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge in chemical engineering, with a focus on materials for energy and health applications. We aspire to improve the quality of life in a sustainable society through discovery and innovation, the quality of life of our graduates through inspiration and teaching, and the quality of life of our peers through collaboration and exchange. With a proud heritage in chemical engineering, the department seeks to break new ground in areas where molecular understanding and engineering design meet.

The PhD student will work under the guidance of Monique A. van der Veen. The van der Veen group focusses the development of metal-organic frameworks for photocatalysis and electronics. An important component of research in the van der Veen group is the use of advanced optical spectroscopy to gain new insight in the structure and function of nanoporous materials.

Job description

The PhD position is part of a larger project in which ferroelectrics based on metal-organic frameworks will be developed. Ferroelectrics are here targeted to be used as physically flexible memories and mechanical energy harvesters. These can be used in (biocompatible) sensors for the Internet of Things. The European Research Council has awarded a prestigious ERC-Starting Grant to Monique A. van der Veen for this purpose.

You will work in a team of experimentalist and theorists to achieve this common goal. Your specific project is experimental and focused on the development metal-organic frameworks with desired piezoelectric properties for mechanical energy harvesting. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are hybrid crystalline materials consisting of inorganic and organic building blocks. You will target different building blocks to rationally design MOFs that can convert the energy contained in mechanical vibrations (e.g. of a beating heart) into electricity. The project hence contains materials’ synthesis, materials’ characterization and electronic testing on the macroscopic as well as on the microscopic scale.

Requirements

The candidate must hold a MSc. degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials’ Science or equivalent. The candidate must hold a MSc. degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials’ Science or equivalent. The candidate must have a background with synthesis (e.g. molecules or solid materials). Experience with microscopy, electronic characterisation and spectroscopy is beneficial but not required.

Conditions of employment

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount for health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. An International Children’s Centre offers child care and an international primary school. Dual Career Services offers support to accompanying partners. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, for full-time employed PhD students this entails €2222 to €2840 gross per month.
As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment; an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor; and a Doctoral Education Programme aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills. Please visit http://graduateschool.tudelft.nl/ for more information.

Information and application

For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Monique A. van der Veen, e-mail: . To apply, please e-mail 1) a letter of motivation (generic letters will be disregarded), 2) a detailed CV, 3) a BSc and MSc grade list to Monique A. van der Veen.

Closing time

When a candidate has been appointed

Open Position 2: PhD student (4 years) on modelling the piezo- and ferroelectric properties of metal-organic frameworks

Applied Sciences

The PhD student will work under the guidance of Monique A. van der Veen and collaborate with Francois-Xavier Coudert. The van der Veen group focusses the development of metal-organic frameworks for photocatalysis and electronics. An important component of research in the van der Veen group is the use of advanced optical spectroscopy to gain new insight in the structure and function of nanoporous materials. The group of Francois-Xavier Coudert from Chimie ParisTech in Paris is a computational chemistry group that is leading in the modelling of the flexibility of metal-organic frameworks. You will have several research stays at the Chimie ParisTech institute.

Job description

The PhD position is part of a larger project in which ferroelectrics based on metal-organic frameworks will be developed. Ferroelectrics are here targeted to be used as physically flexible memories and mechanical energy harvesters. These can be used in (biocompatible) sensors for the Internet of Things. The European Research Council has awarded a prestiguous ERC-Starting Grant to Monique A. van der Veen for this purpose.

You will work in a team of experimentalist and theorists to achieve this common goal. Your specific PhD project is focused on modelling the piezo- and ferroelectric properties of metal-organic frameworks. You will both use quantum mechanical methods, as well as develop more empirical methods so that you can screen potentially good piezo-and ferroelectrics from larger libraries of MOFs. Collaboration with the other, experimental team members will be vital for your research: you will use their experimental results to verify and refine your methods, as well as use your results to suggest potential good ferroelectrics for synthesis. If you are interested, the project can have an experimental component where you also gather the electronic characterisation data that you use to benchmark your theoretical models.

Requirements

The candidate must hold a MSc. degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials’ Science or equivalent. The candidate must have a keen interest in theory and the analysis and interpretation of complex, experimental data.

Conditions of employment

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount for health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. An International Children’s Centre offers child care and an international primary school. Dual Career Services offers support to accompanying partners. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, for full-time employed PhD students this entails €2222 to €2840.
As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment; an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor; and a Doctoral Education Programme aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills. Please visit http://graduateschool.tudelft.nl/ for more information.

Information and application

Closing time

When a candidate has been appointed

Open Position 3: Postdoc (1,5 years) on development of ferroelectric and piezoelectric metal-organic frameworks

The postdoctoral fellow will work under the guidance of Monique A. van der Veen. The van der Veen group focusses the development of metal-organic frameworks for photocatalysis and electronics. An important component of research in the van der Veen group is the use of advanced optical spectroscopy to gain new insight in the structure and function of nanoporous materials.

Job description

The position is part of a larger project in which ferroelectrics based on metal-organic frameworks will be developed. Ferroelectrics are here targeted to be used as physically flexible memories and mechanical energy harvesters. These can be used in (biocompatible) sensors for the Internet of Things. The European Research Council has awarded a prestigious ERC-Starting Grant to Monique A. van der Veen for this purpose.

You will work in a team of experimentalist and theorists to achieve this common goal. As a postdoctoral fellow you will support the PhD students in their synthetic efforts, and you will focus on achieving the synthesis of more challenging MOF structures, as well as developping new synthetic methods to grow MOFs in nanolamellae and thin films. Thsee are relevant for electronic characterisation and the production of MOFs into many types of devices. You will also delve into the nanoscopic characterisation of the electronic properties of your materials.

Requirements

The candidate must hold a PhD in Metal-Organic Chemistry, or will have submitted a PhD thesis prior to taking up the appointment. Experience with advanced physical characterisation (e.g. refinement of XRD patterns, AFM, dielectric spectroscopy …) is beneficial, but not required.

Conditions of employment

Information and application

For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Monique A. van der Veen, e-mail: . To apply, please e-mail to M.A. van der Veen 1) a letter of motivation (generic letters will be disregarded), 2) a detailed CV, 3) potential references to be contacted.

Closing time: When a candidate has been appointed