Postdoctoral Research Associate
Reference number: WM FB MV 1331
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With about 17,000 students, more than 300 professorships and around 160 degree programs, the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) is the technical university of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. As a place of top international research, it offers excellent working conditions and career opportunities. Those who study, research or work at RPTU experience a cosmopolitan environment and shape the future.
Are you interested in the sustainable use of natural resources and would you like to research and develop new, efficient recycling methods as part of your scientific career? Then the Research Training Group WERA „Wertstoff Abwasser“ (Valuable Wastewater) is a good place for you. The University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) is looking for a postdoctoral researcher from 1 July 2025.
In WERA (website: rptu.de/wera), cooperative research projects on the recovery of the important raw material phosphorus (P) from wastewater are being worked on together in the fields of process engineering, chemistry, physics and wastewater technology using novel natural scientific and engineering approaches through to technical implementation. In WERA, various processes, such as the synthesis of tailor-made adsorbers and innovative separation units for phosphorus recovery will be developed, combined in process chains and validated on a wastewater recycling pilot plant. Suitable methods for process analysis and characterization will be extended and the chemical-physical relationships will be studied using molecular and thermodynamic simulations on the microscale with combined particle and flow simulations on the macroscale.
Advantages:
As a researcher at WERA, you will benefit from close collaboration with the doctoral students and an interdisciplinary professors team and from a study concept with summer schools, keynote lectures given by internationally renowned scientists and topic-specific courses. WERA supports your academic career through international visibility (conferences, visits to international research institutes, trade fairs, publications) of your research work in the field of mechanical process engineering and the promising fields of resource recovery and environmental technology. The vacant position is located at the Institute of Particle Process Engineering at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau.
Your area of responsibility:
- Your scientific research topic at WERA involves the formulation of customized P adsorbents by agglomeration processes and the experimental and numerical investigation of their mechanical stability in processes of P recovery from wastewater. Mechanical stress on adsorbent particles often leads to their abrasion and breakage, which severely limits their lifetime in processes. The particle dynamics in the individual processes of P recovery are simulated on the microscale using computational fluid dynamics by coupling with the discrete element method (CFD-DEM) and modelled on the macroscale using the population balance method. The microstructure of the agglomerates and their fracture processes are analyzed with mechanical tests using in-situ micro computed tomography. Based on the knowledge gained, the processes for agglomeration of the adsorbents can be optimized and the process steps for P recovery along the process chain can be adapted in such a way that the lifetime of the adsorber particles is increased. You will be involved in an iterative exchange with all research projects of the Research Training Group and combine WERA's integral, scientific research approach with the central goal of the technical applicability of the adsorber materials developed. In addition, particle stability is also being researched in other P recovery processes, such as crystallization and precipitation of MAP. This opens up a wide range of opportunities for you to publish research results on interdisciplinary topics and establish new research focuses
- As a link between the research areas, you will coordinate the research operations of the wastewater treatment and recycling plant, bring the colleagues together in their different experimental requirements and thus enable joint research at the plant. This gives you an insight into the scientific details of each individual research project and allows you to contribute your scientific experience to the cooperative research work on the one hand and expand your scientific and engineering knowledge on the other. Advantages: As a researcher at WERA, you will benefit from close collaboration with the doctoral students and an interdisciplinary professors team and from a study concept with summer schools, keynote lectures given by internationally renowned scientists and topic-specific courses. WERA supports your academic career through international visibility (conferences, visits to international research institutes, trade fairs, publications) of your research work in the field of mechanical process engineering and the promising fields of resource recovery and environmental technology. The vacant position is located at the Institute of Particle Process Engineering at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau
Your requirements profile:
* The prerequisite for the postdoctoral position is a doctoral degree in the field of process engineering
We offer:
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Local recreation in the Palatinate Forest
RPTU stands for diversity among all employees. We welcome applications from all interested parties, regardless of their ethnic and social origin, age, religion, gender, disability and sexual orientation or identity. Preference will be given to severely disabled persons and persons equivalent to them if they have the appropriate qualifications and suitability.
The RPTU aims to increase the proportion of women in areas where women are underrepresented. Applications from researchers from abroad are expressly encouraged. The position can also be filled on a part-time basis.
Your application:
We look forward to receiving your detailed application (CV, references, etc.) by 30.04.2025 at the latest.
Please submit your application using the "Online Bewerbung" button below or via our application portal (https://jobs.rptu.de).
Your contact person at Department 3 Human Resources is Ms. Schuff (Tel.: 0631 205 5957).
For technical questions, please contact Mr. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sergiy Antonyuk (Tel.: 0631 205 3524, e-mail: sergiy.antonyuk@mv.rptu.de).
