Engineering
| Location: | University Park |
| Salary: | £30,487 to £33,966 per annum (pro rata if applicable) depending on skills and experience (£33966 with relevant PhD). |
| Closing Date: | Wednesday 26 June 2024 |
| Reference: | ENG207724 |
Applications are invited for a Research Associate/Fellow position to join an exciting collaborative project with the Bridge Farm Group UK and Unilever.
The aim of this project is to investigate the potential of flower waste as an alternative feedstock to produce terpene based chemicals. This will involve collecting different types of flower waste from Bridge Farm on a monthly basis and extract the flower essential oils using steam distillation. The flower extracts will then be used as starting materials to produce terpene esters using a chemo and a biocatalytic pathway. The reaction scale-up will then be tested in a continuous flow reactor (ongoing PhD project within the group). Reaction kinetics will be established for both batch and continuous systems. The experimental data will be used to develop an initial techno-economic evaluation to test the feasibility of utilising flower waste as feedstock (with a PhD student associated with this project).
The project outcome is a first step towards decarbonising fragrance formulations for home and personal care products. The appointed candidate will work as part of an interdisciplinary team and will be expected to liaise efficiently between collaborative scientists and external companies.
Candidates must hold or expect to shortly obtain a PhD, or equivalent in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or similar Science / Engineering degree. Candidates must be able to demonstrate practical experience of synthesis techniques relevant to producing terpene esters, use of the relevant characterisation and analytical techniques to quantify the reaction yield and have an interest in testing reaction scale-up in a novel reactor configuration. Relevant training will be provided to address any knowledge gap related to scale-up studies.
This full-time (36.25 hour) post will be offered as a fixed term 7-months contract, if start date is delayed this post must end on 31st March 2025. There is a potential for extension subject to follow-on funding. Job share arrangements may be considered.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Parimala Shivaprasad Email: parimala.shivaprasad@nottingham.ac.uk
Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.