Lab & Pilot researcher - Sustainable Chemical Processes (ref. ATP-2024-511)

Biocon, the scale-up facility of the KU Leuven, is part of the research group of Prof. Bert Sels and the Center for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE) within the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, part of the Science and Technology group at KU Leuven. The research focusses on the innovative use of renewable raw materials (e.g., lignocellulose) to make the chemical industry less dependent of fossil resources for the production of durable chemical products (e.g. insulation materials, adhesives, surfactants, coatings, advanced biofuels). At CSCE we have the infrastructure to combine both lab and pilot research, which is required for a successful further scale-up of promising chemical technologies towards industry.

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Responsibilities

In your role as a lab & pilot researcher, your two main responsibilities will be lab-scale experiments and pilot-scale analytics, always with a focus towards upscaling of an in-house developed catalytic biorefinery process. You will be part of a young and multi-disciplinary Biocon team (9 people) spanning from fundamental lab scientists to pilot-scale operators & engineers. Your lab-scale experiments will generate essential information as basis for further pilot tests & large scale simulations, for which you will be working with chemical reactors and separation equipment (similar as the pilot) and perform chemical product analysis using various techniques (e.g., GC-FID/MS, HPLC, etc.). For the pilot-scale analytics, you will perform quality analyses of the products generated by the pilot operating team, hence forming an important feedback loop between lab & pilot experiments. The time division between these two responsibilities is anticipated to be 3/5 lab experiments and 2/5 pilot analytics.

The ultimate goal is to develop the biorefinery technology in the coming years with a combination of lab, pilot and simulated industrial scale data, making it ready for transfer towards industrial scale by the chemical industry.

• Carrying out chemical reactions in (high-pressure) reactors

• Perform separation processes (e.g. extraction, evaporation, filtration)

• Analytical work to identify and quantify substrates and reaction products (e.g. chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques)

• Distribution of product samples and product quality sheets to project partners

Profile

You have a bachelor's degree in process technology, laboratory technology, biology, chemistry, biotechnology, or related disciplines, or equivalent through relevant experience.

• Several years of technical practical experience in a relevant environment is an advantage (e.g. analytical lab or production unit in chemical or pulp&paper industry, research institute).

• You have a hands-on mentality, and you are willing to take initiative.

• After a training period you can plan and work independently.

• You can function in a team and communicate clearly with colleagues, suppliers, partners.

• You are critical of your own work and that of others

• You have a basic knowledge of safe lab practices, analytical techniques and you can process results with Microsoft Office

• You feel at home in a young, dynamic, and ambitious start-up environment.

• You believe in the importance of the transition to a more sustainable chemical industry.

Offer

We offer a full-time contract of definite duration for the period of 1 year with possibility for extension.

If you are immediately employable in all assignments of this position then you will start in grade 5. Promising candidates who are not yet able to take on all the tasks immediately or who still need to complete a specific training course start at grade 4.

KU Leuven offers many advantages like a hospital insurance and group insurance, Eco-cheques, beneficial holiday arrangements, etc.

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Interested?

For more information please contact Mr. Guy Thys, tel.: +32 16 32 83 13.

You can apply for this job no later than November 06, 2024 via the online application tool