PhD Scholarship - Production of liquid chemicals & fuels from carbon dioxide & electricity

The Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC) is an internationally recognised centre of excellence in innovative water technology and management. The Centre has established an outstanding worldwide reputation in urban water management and related fields. An award-winning multidisciplinary team delivers practical technological solutions underpinned by fundamental scientific discoveries.

The Centre has six interlinked programs, namely next generation urban water technologies, integrated urban water management, sewer corrosion and odour management, nexus of urban water, health and environment, resource efficient agri-industry and environmental biotechnology. Collaborative linkages with industry are strong. Solutions developed by the Centre have yielded quantifiable benefits in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Australian water industry and other sectors. At the same time, the AWMC has an outstanding academic publication record, publishing on average over 100 papers a year in high quality journals including the most prestigious multidisciplinary journals including Nature and Science, and top discipline journals such as Water Research and Environmental Science & Technologies.

The role

We are seeking a highly motivated candidate to undertake a PhD within the research area of Production of liquid chemicals and fuels from carbon dioxide and electricity. The successful candidate will train with state-of-the-art facilities at the AWMC laboratories under the guidance of a multidisciplinary advisory team led by Professor Zhiguo Yuan, and bundling expertise in microbial physiology, bio-engineering, microbial electrochemistry, materials and process engineering, and industrial biotechnology. The research team is developing microbes and microbial communities that can produce valuable compounds from cheap carbon sources and electricity as the source of redox-power.

The person

We encourage highly qualified candidates with a strong commitment to research and with an undergraduate degree in Chemical or Environmental Engineering, B. Biotech (Hons), Microbiology (Hons) or other suitable applied science undergraduate degree to submit their applications. Previous experience with microbial electrochemical technologies would be an advantage. Award of the scholarship will be based on academic merit, research experience and potential. The research work is complemented by seminars, career-development training opportunities, and participation in national or international conferences. Applicants must fulfil the PhD admission criteria for The University of Queensland, including meeting English language requirements, and demonstrating excellent capacity and potential for research. Demonstrated research capacity (research outputs such as publications or conference presentations) will be highly regarded. For further information on entry requirements, please visit https://graduate-school.uq.edu.au/uq-research-degrees.

Remuneration

Selected prospective international and domestic students will receive assistance to apply for University living allowance and tuition fee scholarships. The 2018 Research Training Program (RTP) living allowance stipend rate is AUD $27,082 per annum (indexed annually) for three years with two possible extensions of up to six months each in approved circumstances (conditions apply). For further information on scholarships refer to: https://graduate-school.uq.edu.au/scholarships.

Enquiries

Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact Dr Bernardino Virdis (b.virdis@uq.edu.au) to further discuss this position.