PhD - Biological production of acetic acid from industrial CO2 sources

Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Biological and Chemical Engineering programme. The position is available from 01 August 2025 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title

Biological production of acetic acid from industrial CO2 sources

Research area and project description

You will be part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Center (CORC) with aim of developing knowledge and technology within the field of Carbon Capture and Utilization. You will be part of an interdisciplinary center, with experts inside biotechnology, chemistry, and engineering, joint in the effort to solve one of the greatest challenges of this century. For more information on the CO2 Research Center, please visit www.corc.au.dk

For the position, you will use your expertise in microbiology or biotech engineering to develop solutions and bioreactors for converting CO2 from dilute sources like flue gas to valuable products. You will be working with acetogenic bacteria as part of novel bioreactor concept for the capture and conversion of CO2 into acetic acid, as a platform molecule for further processing and valorisation.

Project description

For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences

Applicants to the PhD position must have a relevant Masters’ degree in process engineering, microbiology, biological- or chemical engineering. The applicant should preferably have expertise or hands-on experience with:

• Experience with culturing of anaerobic microorganisms – preferably acetogens or methanogens
• Knowledge on redox chemistry and gas-liquid transfer mechanisms
• Handling of reactor setups (batch- or continuous)
• Chemical and microbiological analytical techniques
• Excellence in both written and spoken English

The project can be modified according to the expertise of the candidate.

You will be working in the research group “Microbial Conversion Technologies” as part of the Dept. of Biological & Chemical Engineering. As a group member you will be expected to be a team player, where you contribute to student co-supervision, teaching and day-to-day work of the group.

Place of employment and place of work

The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Gustav Wieds Vej 10C, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark.

Contacts

Applicants seeking further information regarding this PhD position are invited to contact:

• Michael Vedel Wegener Kofoed, mvk@bce.au.dk (main supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

How to apply

Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 20 May 2025 at 23:59 CEST.

Preferred starting date is 01 August 2025.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.