PhD Scholarship in Sustainability Assessment of Feedstocks for Biomanufacturing - BRIGHT
Conditions
Appointment based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.
Employment period is 3 years.
Full-time position starting 1st April 2026 (or by mutual agreement).
Application deadline is 25 January 2026 (23:59 Danish time).
Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Salary and appointment terms
Tasks
Quantify the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of emerging feedstocks including CO2, methane, formic acid, and methanol.
Develop a high-resolution assessment framework integrating techno-economic analysis (TEA), environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA), and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA).
Address limitations in environmental impact databases like ecoinvent and Agribalys to provide a cradle-to-grave understanding of biotechnology sustainability.
Quantify feedstock availability and develop retrospective and prospective feedstock portfolios.
Develop conceptual bioprocess schemes for feedstocks suitable for direct use in biotechnological production.
Build detailed mass and energy inventories for fermentation-based systems in solid, liquid, and gas states.
Integrate assessment data into life cycle and techno-economic models for case studies in Europe and Latin America.
Develop a clean, retrievable database for region-specific inventories compatible with LCA software.
Requirements
A two-year master's degree (120 ECTS) or equivalent in chemical engineering, biochemical engineering, environmental engineering, or related disciplines.
Experience with Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Bioprocess Modeling (conceptual process simulations).
Strong analytical and quantitative skills.
Excellent communication skills in English and willingness to work in an international, interdisciplinary team.
Subject to academic approval and enrollment in a general degree programme at DTU.
Option to join the monthly 'PhD relocation to Denmark and startup' Zoom seminar.
Provide grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma in English with an official description of the grading scale.
Candidates may apply before obtaining their master's degree but must have received it before starting.
Subject to open-source background checks due to research in critical technology.
Responsibilities and qualifications
Preferred
Familiarity with sustainability databases (e.g., ecoinvent, CarbonMinds) and process simulation tools (e.g., Aspen Plus, SuperPro Designer, BioSTEAM).
Openness to research visits and collaboration with partner institutions in Mexico.
Benefits
Work in the Sustainable Innovation Office with a supervisor team from Denmark and Mexico.
Informal work environment characterized by knowledge sharing, respect, and trust.
Opportunity to work at a globally recognized technical university with a mission to benefit society.
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