Partnering

- JOB - Netherlands - Wetsus - European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology - Posted on: 9 September 2026
9 Sep 2026
Wetsus - European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology Research Field
Engineering » Chemical engineering
Chemistry » Molecular chemistry
Chemistry » Biochemistry Researcher Profile
First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions
PhD Positions Application Deadline
16 Oct 2026 - 15:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) Country
Netherlands Type of Contract
Temporary Job Status
Full-time Hours Per Week
40 Offer Starting Date
1 Mar 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Horizon Europe Reference Number
2026.18 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No
Offer Description
Research challenges
The research challenge is to establish tools to predict and control property specifications of cellulose composites with co-polymer blends of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate). There is an expected window of batch-to-batch variability in the recovered PHA thermophysical properties and a requirement to monitor for fate of trace contaminants that must be maintained below regulated thresholds in the final product. Further there is opportunity to efficiently formulate high performance composite bioplastics directly in the PHA recovery process. Current methods do not adequately link a variability in the polymer production to the opportunity to directly tune and formulate bioplastics and composites in one step. In this project high quality cellulose will be produced from industrial flagship recycling of absorbent hygiene products, and PHA will be produced in a sister flagship industrial scale facility. Optimized composite bioplastic formulation strategies are to be developed and scaled up in collaborative activities of product prototyping. Tools for steering the composite property specifications through applied polymer science and ...