Sweden: PhD studentship in Energy Technology and Thermal Process Chemistry

Application Deadline: August 2, 2010 at the latest.


PhD student position at Energy Technology and Thermal Process Chemistry“Green” fuels from biomass via torrefaction/pyrolysis, gasification and synthetisis

Department of Applied Physics and Electronics have today approximately 90 employees. The main tasks are research and postgraduate studies, education and collaboration with the society. The department has approximately 650 students in the areas of energy technology, building technology, electronics, engineering and media technology.

Energy Technology and Thermal Process Chemistry (ETPC) is a strong platform initiative within the department and is also closely linked to the Department of Chemistry and the Unit of Biomass Technology and Chemistry at the Swedish university of agricultural science. Six senior scientists and nine PhD students are working at ETPC. Several extensive research projects of both fundamental and applied character are run with the main focus to understand and develop thermochemical conversion processes for biomass raw materials.

Recently our scientists have successfully taken the pretreatment process of torrefaction to industrial commercialization (program stage 1) and now also have sufficient and appropriate torrefied biomass materials for evaluation as a gasification fuel. These test trials are planned in different sized gasifiers with partners both regionally located and around the world (program stage 2, 2010-2011). Extensive plans are also initiated to first evaluate and subsequently demonstrate production of liquid fuels and green chemicals (program stage 3, 2011-).

The duration of a PhD project is 2 years to PhL exam and totally 4-5 years to a full PhD exam.
We believe You can work systematically and stringently, have the ability to work independently as well as in collaboration with others. You should have the ability to convert theory to practice, i.e. skilled in both theoretical engineering tools as well as in practical technical and engineering work. Good skills in writing and talking English are highly valued. You should also be analytical, creative and ambitious.

Formal requirements include: (i) 240 ECTS credit points (Swe. högskolepoäng) of higher education studies within the area of energy-, chemistry- or process technology/engineering, of which 60 should be on an advanced level (Master level) (ii) equivalent educational merits gained in Sweden or abroad, or(iii) 120 Swedish (old) credit points (Swe. poäng)

The requirements mentioned need to be met at the time of acceptance to doctoral studies, not at the time when your application is submitted. For the above Biomass to Liquids Program, we are also continuously interested in Visiting Post docs/Assistant professors (fo-ass etc) and Project engineers, such as student/science projects or summer practicants for R&D work in our research facilities. For further information, please contact Anders Nordin, anders.nordin@chem.umu.se 070-239 11 33 070-239 11 33 , or Åke Fransson 090-786 50 33 090-786 50 33 , ake.fransson@tfe.umu.se.

Application procedure

The application should include: (i) a cover letter summarizing your qualifications and motives for applying, (ii) a curriculum vitae, (iii) transcripts of records, and (iv) the names and contacts of 1 to 3 references.
Union information is available from SACO, +46-(0)90-786 53 65 +46-(0)90-786 53 65 , SEKO, +46-(0)90-786 52 96 +46-(0)90-786 52 96 and ST, +46-(0)90-786 54 31 +46-(0)90-786 54 31 .


Applications will be discarded or, if the applicant so wishes, returned two years after the position has been filled. Documents sent electronically should be in MS Word or PDF format.
Your complete application, marked with reference number 313-581-10, should be sent to jobb@umu.se (state the reference number as subject) or to the registrar, Ume� University, SE-901 87 Ume�, Sweden to arrive August 2, 2010 at the latest.

Source: http://www8.umu.se/umu/aktuellt/arkiv/lediga_tjanster/313-581-10.html

Sweden: PhD student in Security and Privacy of Social Networks

Application deadline: June 28, 2010
Employer's reference number: D-2010-0248


KTH The School of Computer Science and Communication (CSC) seeks a PhD student in Security and Privacy of Social Networks.

KTH is the largest technical university in Sweden. Education and research cover a broad spectrum within natural sciences and engineering, as well as architecture, industrial engineering and management, urban planning, work science and environmental engineering. KTH has 6,955 full-time equivalent students at Bachelor (first) level, 5,545 at Master (second) level, 1,314 at doctoral studies (third) level and 3,900 employees.

CSC is one of Sweden’s most advanced and successful research and education institutions in Information Technology at KTH and Stockholm University. The activities of the school focus on higher education and research within the traditional core areas of numerical analysis and computer science; from theory building and analysis of mathematical models to algorithm construction, implementation and simulation. Other core areas of growing importance are technology and methods for the support of human communication and computer mediated cooperation over distances in time and space. The applied research includes scientific computing, computer science, computer vision, robotics, neuroinformatics and neural networks, human-computer interaction, media technology and graphic arts, and communication through speech, language and music.

For more information see

* www.kth.se/csc go to"CSC International Website".

The Department of Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) offers a stimulating research environment in a range of topics such as complexity theory and approximation algorithms, computer and network security, cryptography, programming languages, and formal methods. Security and safety of computer and network based systems has been identified as an area of strategic importance.


Online Social Networks like Facebook, MySpace, Xing, etc. have become extremely popular. Yet they have some limitations that we want to overcome for a next generation of social networks: privacy concerns and requirements of Internet connectivity, both of which are due to web-based applications on a central site whose owner has access to all data. To overcome these limitations, we envision a paradigm shift from a client-server to a peer-to-peer infrastructure coupled with encryption so that users keep control of their data and can use the social network also locally, without Internet access. This shift gives rise to many research questions intersecting areas such as networking, security, distributed systems, and social network analysis - leading to a better understanding of how technology can support social interactions. For more details see the PeerSoN project page at

* http://www.peerson.net


The goal of this PhD project is to develop and evaluate security and privacy mechanisms for decentralized social networks in particular and for provider-independent personal communications in general.


The candidate will join a collaborative project with researchers located at KTH, NTU Singapore, EPFL Lausanne, and T-Labs Berlin.


This is a four-year, time-limited position and normally includes 20% departmental duties, usually teaching. Research/doctoral students must be registered at KTH. The starting date is open for discussion, though ideally we would like the successful candidate to start as soon as possible.

Employment

Form of employment: Time-limited
Work time: Full time
Start date: According to agreement
The salary follows the directions provided by KTH
Number of positions: 1

Qualifications

The applicant is expected to have a strong background and interest in computer science, including subjects such as security, cryptography, networking, distributed systems, and game theory.

Applicants must be strongly motivated for doctoral studies, possess the ability to work independently and perform critical analysis as well as possessing good levels of cooperative and communicative abilities.

To address its varied work, KTH aims to employ a diversity of talent and thus welcomes applicants who will add to the variety of the University, especially as concerns its gender structure.

Application

Application deadline: June 28, 2010
Employer's reference number: D-2010-0248

Applications should contain a letter where the applicants describe themselves, their qualifications, and interests. They should also contain a Curriculum Vitae, grade transcripts, copies of the applicant’s Master thesis and/or publications, and names and addresses of two references. Applicants about to finish their M.Sc. degrees may be considered for the position.

Applications via email to:

* susanneb@csc.kth.se

Write reference number in the email subject. (CV, etc should be sent as an attachment preferably pdf-files.)
Alternatively applications by ordinary post to be sent to:

KTH, CSC
att. Susanne Bergman
Lindstedtsvägen 3, plan 4
SE-100 44 Stockholm
Sweden

Source: KTH Website

Sweden Scholarship: A PhD student position in the Algorithms group at Chalmers University

Application deadline 2010-06-06

Reference number 2010/111

Job start date 2010-08-02

The research will take place in the Algorithms group in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, with a special focus on the use of probabilistic methods in Computer Science. The department constitutes an international research environment with about 70 faculty and 70 PhD students. They come from more than 30 different countries; about half of them are native Swedes. General information about the department can be found at www.chalmers.se/cse/EN/

Job description

We are seeking candidates for a PhD position within the Algorithms group with a special focus on machine learning techniques in the area of probabilistic graphical models. This project will investigate techniques from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics for solving the problem of approximate inference arising in graphical models when applied to dynamical systems. The focus will be to derive a tractable inference procedure which applies to continuous time. These techniques will be applied to inference problems in computational biology, distributed wireless networks, natural language technology and other areas.

As a Ph.D. student you are employed by Chalmers and will receive a salary according to current salary agreements. A maximum of 20% of your time will be devoted to other duties at the department, mainly teaching. The remaining time will be devoted to your own courses and research within the project and you are expected to obtain a Ph.D. within a maximum of 5 years.

Required qualifications

A suitable background for the applicant is a strong undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Candidates must have a strong background in discrete probability and machine learning techniques. The candidate should have a thorough knowledge of graphical models, and existing state of the art in approximate inference algorithms as well as good practical experience in implemening them.

Application procedure

The application shall be written in English and include the following items:

1. An application of a maximum of one A4 page containing your specific qualifications for the position
2. Attested copies of education certificates, including grade reports and other documents
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Letters of recommendation and name of reference persons (optional)

The application shall be sent electronically as pdf or zipped documents. Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.

If any material is not available electronically or cannot be transferred to pdf format, the material can be sent as a hard copy to Registrar. The applicants name and the reference number (2010/111) must be written on the first page of the application.

Address:

Registrar
Chalmers University of Technology
SE-412 96 Göteborg
Sweden

Further information

Further information of the PhD positions can be obtained from

Professor Devdatt Dubhashi
E-mail: dubhashi@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 1698

Vice Head of Department, Graduate Education: Associate Professor Jan Jonsson
E-mail: janjo@chalmers.se
Phone +46 31 772 5220

Director of Postgraduate Studies: Associate Professor Koen Lindström Claessen
E-mail: koen@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 54 24

Source: http://www.chalmers.se/cse/EN/news/vacancies/positions/phd-student-position-in7442

Sweden Scholarship: Doctoral student in Highway and Railway Engineering at KTH

Apply no later than 2010-08-10

Reference no.: A-2010-0437

The School of Architecture and the Built Environment at KTH has an open PhD-student position for the project: ”Real-time in-situ quality evaluation of asphalt pavements during installation (RIQE)”

This PhD research project on Real-Time In-situ Quality Evaluation of Asphalt Pavements During Installation (RIQE) aims at contributing to the development and evaluation of simple and fast real-time on-site quality control tools and methodologies for assessing and quantifying the effectiveness of the construction process in terms of characteristic mechanical and spacial properties of the pavement in its virgin state during and immediately after compaction.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of fresh mixture phenomena will be performed in the lab and in situ under real paving and compaction conditions. This means characterization and understanding of chemo-physical mechanisms during construction of asphalt pavements, focusing also on bonding, early damage and overstressing effects. The findings of the research are expected to result in proposals and, if feasible, in developments and validation of simple and fast real-time on-site quality control tools.

KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education capacity at university level. Education and research cover a broad spectrum – from natural sciences to all the branches of engineering as well as architecture, industrial engineering and management, urban planning, work science and environmental engineering. In addition to the research carried out by KTH’s Schools, a large number of both national and local Competence Centres are located at KTH. Various research foundations also finance a number of research programmes.

The School of Architecture and the Built Environment, ABE (Skolan för Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnad) is one of eleven schools at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Our research and educational program regards the future of our societies; how cities, buildings and infrastructure will be designed and built, how institutions and regulatory systems should be developed to produce a good living environment, and how to provide good development conditions for business.

Applicants qualifications

Candidate should be skilled in both theoretical modelling and experimental lab work and have a sound knowledge in material science and civil engineering (preferably in the field of bituminous materials and pavement construction). The PhD candidate should be fluent in spoken and written English and skilled in independent work. It is intended that the candidate perform parts of the work in Switzerland, taking advantage of the collaboration between KTH and EMPA -Swiss federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.

The ABE School is comprised of seven departments and four centers for advanced research, many led by internationally renowned scientists. The School has about 1300 undergraduate and 300 graduate students studying everything from architecture, civil and architectural engineering, and land and water resources engineering to philosophy, economics and planning.

To address its varied work, KTH aims to employ a diversity of talent and thus welcomes applicants who will add to the variety of the University, especially as concerns its gender structure.

Employment

Time limited employment. Start date according to agreement.

Application procedure

Application via e-mail:

• registrator.byv@abe.kth.se

(Applications only accepted by e-mail, please attach your CV.)

Apply no later than 2010-08-10
Reference no.: A-2010-0437

Contact

Professor Manfred Partl

• manfred.partl@empa.ch

Scholarship in Sweden: PhD position in Solid Mechanics with specialization in Paper mechanics at KTH

Application deadline: May 31, 2010

The School of Engineering Sciences (SCI) at KTH hereby announces one PhD position in Solid Mechanics with specialization in Paper mechanics.

KTH is the largest technical university in Sweden. Education and research cover a broad spectrum within natural sciences and engineering, as well as architecture, industrial engineering and management, urban planning, work science and environmental engineering. There are circa 13,300 full-year undergraduate students, 1,500 postgraduate students and 3,900 employees.

BiMaC Innovation is a VINNOVA VINNExcellence Centre concerted multidisciplinary research program aimed to develop new innovative demonstrators in a sustainable scenario. The Centre is focused on a number of essential, but hitherto unresolved problems, which for a long time have challenged the Swedish Forest Industry in the development of new products. The aim of the achieved innovations is to secure and increase the competitiveness of the Swedish Forest Industry in an international perspective. The focus is on using material mechanics, fibre and surface modification technology, and material technology to create new products.

Research Project

The aim of the proposed project is to substantially increase the understanding of deformation and damage mechanisms in paper. This will be achieved by a combination of careful micromechanical modelling and detailed experimental studies. We plan to close a feedback loop of modelling and simulation with input from experimental studies with the goal to provide a tool that can be used to understand different deformation and damage mechanisms in paper. The technological use of the project is to enable optimization of paper properties and maximise fibre utilization. Within the proposed project the objectives are:

• To develop a representative volume element model for finite element simulations of paper materials. The model will incorporate fibre and bond properties as well as friction between fibres.
• To utilize microscopy and X-ray tomography to detect and quantify inhomogeneous deformation mechanisms on the micro-scale.
• To establish relations between deformation and damage mechanisms and stress-strain curves for paper materials.

Qualifications

Applicants should have a solid background in solid mechanics with an interest in material science (corresponding to master level). Documented interest in research like activities (e.g. demonstrated in the form of excellent master thesis work) is of large importance.

Applicants must be strongly motivated for doctoral studies, possess the ability to work independently and perform critical analysis as well as possessing good levels of cooperative and communicative abilities. An ambition and ability to improve the competence in fibre technology will be regarded as an advantage, since the project will be performed in a multidisciplinary research centre.

To address its varied work, KTH aims to employ a diversity of talent and thus welcomes applicants who will add to the variety of the University, especially as concerns its gender structure.

Employment

This is a five-year, time-limited position and normally includes 20 % departmental duties, usually teaching. The salary follows the guidelines provided by KTH.

Application

The application should contain a letter in which the applicant describes himself/herself and his/her qualifications and interests. In addition, a curriculum vitae (CV) and copies of relevant grades should be enclosed. Students that are close to finishing a master level education are also welcome to apply.

Employers reference number: S-2010-0359.

Applications via email to:

• evalb@kth.se

Write reference number in the email subject. (CV, etc should be sent as an attachment preferably pdf-files.)

Alternatively applications can be sent to:
KTH, Solid Mechanics
att. Eva Lundmark Berg
Osquars Backe 1, SE-100 44 Stockholm
Sweden

Contact(s)

Mikael Nygårds, Assistant Professor
Phone: +46 8 790 76 30

• nygards@kth.se

Sören Östlund, Professor and Head of the Solid Mechanics Department
Phone: +46 8 790 75 42

• soren@kth.se

Scholarship in Sweden: Three PhD positions in Computer Science at Uppsala University

Deadline: 4 June, 2010

at the Department of Information Technology for the project: Methods and tools for real-time software development on multicore platforms

The positions are supported by a five-year grant from the Swedish Strategic Research Foundation (SSF) to develop methods and tools for embedded and real-time applications on multicore platforms. Research directions include (1) parallelization of embedded software, (2) modeling, profiling, and prediction of timing and performance properties, (3) resource-aware mapping and scheduling, all focusing on multicore platforms.

The department has recently been awarded a ten year Linnaeus grant from the Swedish Research Council to establish the UPMARC centre of excellence, which brings together groups in complementary areas, including computer architecture, computer networks, embedded systems, verification and testing, and programming languages, to make a coordinated attack on the challenges of programming multicore systems. The announced positions are placed within UPMARC.

A successful candidate should have a master of science inComputer Science, Engineeringor equivalent. The PhD positions are for a maximum of five years and include departmental duties at a level of at most 20% (typically teaching). Further information: http://www.teknat.uu.se and http://www.it.uu.se.

Uppsala University is striving to achieve a more even gender balance among its staff and women are especially encouraged to apply.

Applications should include a brief description of research interest and past experience, a CV, copies of exams, degrees and grades, a copy of your Master thesis (or a draft thereof) and other relevant documents. The candidates are encouraged to provide letter(s) of recommendation and contact information to reference persons.

For more information, see http://www.it.uu.se/research/coder-mp (CoDeR-MP), http://www.it.uu.se/ (the department) or contact: Prof. Wang Yi, yi@it.uu.se, or some other member of the project (see URL of CoDeR-MP). Union representatives are: Anders Grundström, Saco-rådet, tel +46 18-471 5380, Carin Söderhäll, TCO/ST, tel +46 18-471 1996, Stefan Djurström, Seko, tel +46 18-471 3315.

You are welcome to submit your application no later than 4 June, 2010. UFV-PA 2010/1172. Use the link below to access the application form
Three PhD positions in Computer Science

Source: http://www.personalavd.uu.se/ledigaplatser/1172dorand_eng.html

Scholarship in Sweden: Eight PhD Positions in Organic Chemistry at Uppsala University

Application deadline on 30 July, 2010.

The Department of Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry is located at the Uppsala Biomedical Center, close to the Departments of Cell & Molecular Biology, Physical & Analytical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Research at the department focuses on organic synthesis, organometallic chemistry, physical organic chemistry and chemical biology. The department consists of 65 employees of which 35 are graduate students.

The research in organic chemistry at the department is broad and ranges from method development in organic synthesis to biomedical applications and applications in materials science.

The research programs at the department can be found on the department website www.biorg.uu.se and include

• Asymmetric synthesis
• Organometallic chemistry
• Bioorganic chemistry
• Physical organic chemistry
• PET chemistry
• Carbon nanotubes and graphenes
• Green and sustainable chemistry

Appointment period: The PhD position is for four years, extendable to a maximum of five years by including department duties at a level of at most 20% (typically teaching). Since first year undergraduate courses are taught in Swedish, proficiency in Swedish may be considered an advantage.

Nature of duties: The PhD student is expected to carry out advanced research in organic chemistry, to broaden his/her perspective and knowledge of organic chemistry by taking graduate courses in relevant subjects and to teach as well as participate in general departmental work such as instrument maintenance etc to a level corresponding to a maximum 20% of the employment time.

Qualifications required: To qualify for a PhD position the applicant must have at least 240 hp or equivalent of basic university education with at least 90 hp in chemistry and 60 hp at the advanced level. For applicants from outside the European Union, a GRE general test score has to be supplied.

Criteria for ranking: The ranking of applicants will be based on undergraduate grades, on the undergraduate education profile and on the applicants experience of and demonstrated interest in the appropriate field of research. It is desirable that the top candidates participate in personal interviews although that may not always be necessary or possible. In this case, the GRE general test scores may be used.

In filling this position, the university aims to recruit the person who, in a combined evaluation of competence, skills and documented qualifications, is judged most suitable to carry out and develop the work-in-hand and to contribute to a positive development of the department and programme.

Personal circumstances that may be of positive relevance to the application, for example parental leave, should be mentioned in the list of qualifications (CV).

Uppsala University is striving to achieve a greater gender balance among its research and teaching staff and women are especially invited to apply for this position.

For further information about the position, please contact professor Pher G. Andersson (+46 18 471 3801) (Pher.Andersson@Biorg.uu.se) or professor Lars Baltzer (+46 18 471 3810, (Lars.Baltzer@Biorg.uu.se). The trade union representatives are Anders Grundström of SACO (the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations, phone +46 18 471 5380) and Carin Söderhäll of TCO/ST (the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees, phone +46 18 471 1996), Stefan Djurström of Seko (the Union of Service and Communication Employees, phone +46 18 471 3315).

The application should be sent, preferrably by e-mail to: registrator@uu.se, or by fax +46-184712000, or by mail to: Registrar’s Office, Uppsala University, Box 256, SE-751 05 UPPSALA, Sweden.

In any correspondence please use the reference number UFV-PA 2010/1415.

Source: http://www.personalavd.uu.se/ledigaplatser/1415dorand_eng.html