PhD Candidate: Developing laser-based spectroscopy systems for gas phase contamination detection in real-life applications

Are you an enthusiastic young scientist who likes to work with and develop novel laser-based spectroscopy instruments? Do you hold a Master’s degree in physics (photonics), electrical engineering or a related field? And would you like to be involved in research and development for detecting gas-phase contaminations in different novel/demanding applications, for example as used in green hydrogen and semiconductor industry? If so, then you have a part to play as a PhD candidate in our research team. Put your ideas to the test at our green campus and push your boundaries in an internationally friendly environment.

Detecting gas-phase contaminations is a fundamental and ever-growing field. Safety and efficiency of many real-life applications depend on on-line monitoring of gas-phase contaminants. This PhD project aims at two of these important applications: I) contaminants in storage and the transfer of green hydrogen and II) contaminants in semiconductor manufacturing processes.

As a PhD candidate, you will identify and characterise the major gas-phase contaminants in these two applications, their origins and concentrations. You will do so with the help of leading national and international institutes and companies in the corresponding field. This involves developing new set-ups to mimic the application conditions in the lab and performing measurements in the field at the commercial partners. The goal is to portray a full picture of the major contaminants and finally design efficient and cost-effective new instruments using broadband laser-based spectroscopy for the identified targets.

Research in the Trace Detection Laboratory (TDLab) focuses on the detection of species in trace levels with a higher emphasis on the gas phase. For this, we use various analytical laboratory instruments based on mass spectrometry and Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTS) and are developing new laser-based spectroscopic instruments for specific applications. These applications are very broad: agri-food industry, pollution monitoring, bio-medical and disease detection, emission/exposure measurement, and more. In this project, you will be using existing laboratory instruments, as well as developing new spectroscopic methods for detecting a specific contaminant (or specific sets of contaminants). Your teaching load may be up to 10% of your working time.

Requirements:

• You should have a Master's degree in physics (photonics), electrical engineering, or a related discipline (a good knowledge of optics and photonics is required), and an interest in developing laser-based spectroscopic instruments and analysing data.
• You are a highly motivated, enthusiastic, critical, communicative, creative and team-oriented young scientist with a particular interest in working with and developing laser-based spectroscopy systems for trace gas detection.
• You take initiative and are eager to learn.
• Prior experience with developing laser-based spectroscopy instruments or other optics/photonics systems, as well as programming (in LabView, Matlab and/or Python) is essential.
• You are fluent in English (written and spoken) and have good communication skills.

Salary Benefits:

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,770 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,539 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

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