SEND Graduate Researcher in protecting impurities in H2 reference standards for proton exchange membranes: with opportunity to gain a PhD
Home PhD Tuition fees covered3 Years Fixed TermFlexible Start Date up until October 2018
This post represents an exciting opportunity for an ambitious graduate to become part of a new cohort of exceptional researchers in a unique partnership between academia and business as part of Keele University's Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) project.
Under the supervision of an academic project lead, you will undertake a programme of collaborative research, development and innovation (RD&I) which will underpin the development of a new product, process or service, working collaboratively with a Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire business, JDSE Ltd. In addition, you will be eligible to submit the work undertaken as the basis of a body of work to be examined for consideration of the award of a PhD from Keele University.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) provide a means to cleanly generate an electric current through the oxidation of H2 gas. The effectiveness of a PEM can be seriously degraded by the presence of contaminants in the H2 supply, so accurately measuring these is vitally important. The devices that measure the trace contaminants require calibrating against standard gases, however, the impurities react with the walls of gas cylinders, changing their concentration and making the transport of these reference standards difficult. This project will seek to understand how the contaminant gas molecules interact with metal surfaces, through a combined experimental and computational study, and then develop novel surface coatings to render the metal surface completely inert.
The Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) project (Reference 32R16P00706) is part-funded from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds England Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
This post will be part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds England Growth Programme 2014-2020.
Keele University is committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN charter, and values equality and diversity across our workforce. We strive to ensure that our workforce is representative of broader society, and therefore, we would actively welcome applications from women for this role.
Keele University values equality and diversity across our workforce and to ensuring our staff community is reflective of the diversity of our student population. In support of these commitments the University welcomes applications from individuals of Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds for all roles.
This post is unlikely to meet the relevant criteria to allow the University to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship. Applications from candidates who require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK will be considered against the requirements stated in the recruitment documentation. Recruitment decisions will be made in accordance with the UK Visas and Immigration guidance.
Keele University employees wishing to apply should login to Employee Self Service and click on the 'View current vacancies' link.
For Further details about this role please click on the link below
Job Description and Person Specification