Associate professor in chemical valorization of biomass

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Associate professor

There is a vacancy for an associate professor in chemical valorization of biomass at the .

About the department

Chemical knowledge, technology and competence are essential factors in meeting society's growing demands in sectors such as health, environment, and sustainable energy and materials, to name but a few areas that lie at the core of UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs).

For example, achieving a major shift toward sustainable energy supply (SDG 7) and sustainable production (SDG 12) will require chemical solutions to unlock the potential of biorefining in a future bio-based and circular economy.

The Department of Chemistry (http : / / www.uib.no / en / kj) contributes to creating, applying, and disseminating chemical knowledge through research and education of high quality and in collaboration with relevant regional, national, and international stake holders.

The department offers modern and up-to-date education at bachelor's, master's and PhD levels and hosts or co-hosts several study programs including chemistry, medical technology, pharmacy, and nanotechnology and -science.

The department currently counts about 80 employees including 25 associate professors and professors, and about 40 PhD candidates.

The Department of Chemistry has invested strategically in building a modern research infrastructure and hosts the national NMR platform in Norway.

Work tasks / research field :

Work tasks / research field

Department of Chemistry aims to be a positive force in shifting the economy from being based on fossil resources to renewable resources and has ongoing research on the use of non-food renewable resources ranging from carbon dioxide to bioresources such as algae, lignocellulosic material, and waste, to produce high-value compounds, a-olefins, phenols, furans and other platform chemicals, polymers, bioenergy, and biofuels.

To foster collaboration and synergy effects, the researchers within valorization of renewables have recently formed a research group, Sustainable Energy Carriers, Chemicals, and Materials, and intend to continue building both capability and capacity to establish and conduct larger research projects.

Externally funded, joint projects have already been established to integrate activities within non-catalytic and catalytic biomass transformations and to benefit increasingly from rational, mechanistically founded catalyst and process design and statistically based experimental design approaches.

With the new position, the department seeks to support and reinforce this development. In addition to fostering collaboration and use of fundamental, mechanistic information and advanced organic analysis for chemical speciation of complex product mixtures, the new associate professor is expected to promote the principles of green chemistry, such as catalysis and benign solvent use, across the activities within biomass valorization.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute to acquiring external funding of research within biomass valorization at the department.

The position includes responsibility for teaching and developing courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels, which means that over time teaching tasks may span from introductory chemistry courses to more specialized courses within the research field of the associate professor.

Moreover, supervision of BSc-, MSc-, and PhD-candidates is an important part of both the research and educational components of the position.

The department is increasingly adopting a collegial approach to teaching and welcomes applicants with a teaching philosophy that fits with this.

Researchers at the Department of Chemistry have access to state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment as well as local and national software and hardware for computational chemistry.

The experimental infrastructure covers equipment and software for synthesis, chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis and characterization and structure elucidation, and process development.

A large-scale (5 L) high-T,P reactor is also available. Moreover, the department hosts the Norwegian NMR platform (NNP, https : / / nmr.

h.uib.no / ) and has 500, 600, and 850 MHz instruments. A high-throughput experimentation (HTE) facility is being established during 2022.

Qualifications and personal qualities :

Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Research ambitions and potential will also count when evaluating the candidates.

Educational competence requirements

Basic teaching training and experience with the supervision of students at university level is a requirement for the position as associate professor.

This implies the ability to document

Educational competence must be documented in an educational portfolio which should include a documented overview of practical experience and competence as well as a brief reflection statement.

The statement should primarily describe the applicant’s own teaching philosophy and an evaluation of own teaching in relation to his / her knowledge of students’ learning at a higher education level.

You will find more detailed information about criteria and documentation requirements for assessing educational competence here

Applicants who are unable to document adequate educational competence upon appointment, will be ordered to meet the requirements within two years of assuming office.

The teaching language will normally be Norwegian. The successful applicant must be able to teach in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language within two years of assuming office.

University of Bergen emphasizes educational qualifications for appointment to scientific positions.

We can offer :

About The University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres.

Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad.