Post Doctoral Researcher in Hydrogel Synthesis and Material Science

University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) is the first national applied University in the State of Qatar, offering applied Bachelors and Master’s degrees in addition to certificates and diplomas in various fields. UDST has over 50 programs in the fields of Engineering Technology and Industrial Trades, Business Management, Computing and Information Technology, Health Sciences, Continuing and Professional Education and more.

With more than 700 staff and over 8,000 students, UDST is the destination for top-notch applied and experiential learning. The University is recognized for its student-centered learning and state-of-the-art facilities. Our faculty are committed to delivering pedagogically-sound learning experiences with the incorporation of innovative technological interventions, to further enhance students’ skills and help develop talented graduates that can effectively contribute to a knowledge-based economy and make Qatar’s National Vision 2030 a reality.

The Applied Research, Innovation and Economic Development Directorate invites applications for the position of Post Doctoral Researcher to work on of the UDST Food Security Project and the research initiatives of the UDST Center of Excellence in Food Security and Sustainability.

Application procedure

The application should be in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 10 MB.

1. CV:(Please name the document as: CV, Surname, Ref. number) including:

• A complete list of publications
• Previous research experiences
• Two references who can be approached to write letters of reference/recommendation

2. Cover letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number) 1-3 pages where you:

• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous research fields and main research results
• Relate your qualifications, experience, and skills with the job requirements

Describe your future goals and future research focus

The successful candidate will help in engineering biogenic hydrogels. He/she will evaluate hydrogels' mechanical properties (G",G'), nutrient release characteristics, water retention, heavy metal adsorption in soil. He/she will Engineer BMA encapsulated hydrogel by adjusting cross-linking process and perform Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Metal species, and UV-Vis Spectroscopic Analysis, Thermal Gravimetric and FT-IR spectroscopy tests.

The successful candidate will assist in data analysis, manuscript writing, and preparing project reports. The successful candidates will interact with researchers and stakeholders (local and international collaborators and institutions) with respect to the related projects.

Qualifications

• The candidates must have a PhD in Chemical/Environmental/Material Engineering, or closely related disciplines from a renowned university. The potential candidates should have a demonstrated record of scholarship and a track record of excellence in research related to polymeric hydrogels. The candidate should have a solid background working with Spectrophotometric analysis, UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis, TGA, AFM, ICP-MS. The candidates should have experience with the operation of the laboratory and material characteristic analysis. Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Preferable research experiences

• Significant experience in synthesizing hydrogels
• A good publication record of the position-related papers published in peer-reviewed journals
• Ability to work effectively as a part of a multi-disciplinary research team, and to carry out independent individual research to meet project goals
• Advanced written and oral communication skills
• Experiences in scientific writing for preparation of scientific papers for publication and presentations for meetings and/or conferences
• Outstanding hands-on skills, strong computational and problem-solving skills, and a high level of analytical ability
• Soil, water data analysis and interpretation
• Willingness to cooperate and support other researchers in the research lab
• Experience in working with teams of engineers and supervising undergraduate students

Skills

• Synthesis and analyses of hydrogels.
• Lab experience in engineering or related fields specially spectroscopy and rheometry including but not limited to FTIR, TGA-IR, AFM, GC-MS, ICP-MS, Rheometry, XRD. 
  Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Team working skills.
• Scientific writing and preparation of scientific peer-reviewed papers and reports.