13 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stockholm University, Sweden

The position will be associated with the project: Holistic management practices, modelling and monitoring for European forest soils (HoliSoils, https://holisoils.eu/). The project HoliSoils investigates how soil processes and biota drive the cycles of carbon and nutrients in forests, thereby promoting soil-related ecosystem services that need to be considered in forest management and climate policy. Specifically, the part of the project conducted at Stockholm University aims at modelling microbial processes in soils and linking detailed microbial models to ecosystem models. These ecosystem models are then used within HoliSoils to quantify and predict how forest disturbances and management practices affect soil biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem service provision. Model developments at Stockholm University will be conducted in close collaboration with Bertrand Guenet and Rose Abramoff in the land-surface modeling group at the IPSL (Institut Pierre et Simon Laplace), and data-model integration will be facilitated by working with Petr Baldrian at the IMIC (Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences). Collaborations with several other partners in the HoliSoils project are envisioned, providing a unique opportunity for networking across Europe.

In this project, you will measure the persistence of organic contaminants in aquatic systems using a laboratory simulation test and employing field experiments. The goal is to understand the relationship between biodegradation half-lives determined in the laboratory and in the natural environment. Your laboratory experiments will be conducted with a version of the OECD 309 method that we have modified to increase its environmental relevance. Your field experiments will be conducted in rivers in Europe. You will analyze polar organic contaminants in the samples from your experiments using high resolution mass spectrometry. In comparing the results of the laboratory and field experiments, you will employ benchmarking techniques. You will interact with multiple stakeholders interested in the regulatory application of the laboratory test for persistence assessment.

The Trapped Ion Quantum Technology group at Stockholm University invites applications for a postdoctoral position on our trapped Rydberg ion project. The successful applicant will work on trapped ion experiments to perform fast quantum gates and quantum algorithms via Rydberg interaction. Trapped Rydberg ions are a new system for quantum computation. By laser pulses the ions’ outermost electron is excited to a high-lying Rydberg orbital [1]. Such Rydberg ions are million times bigger than ions in the ground state, and due to their size obtain very peculiar properties. Trapped ions can be entangled via a strong Rydberg interaction in less than a microsecond [2]. This method supports fast entangling gates in large ions crystals, thus enabling a fast trapped ion quantum computer or quantum simulator.

The position will be associated with the project “Circular lignin materials from well-defined functional building blocks” (CIRCULIG), funded by The European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. The project constitutes frontier research on lignin-based functional materials that are designed for circularity, e.g., reuse, repurposing, and recycling. The Postdoctoral Fellow will have a central role in a five-membered project team that develops methodology for green synthesis and characterization of lignin-based nano/microstructured materials that combine functionality and circularity. The application areas include catalysis, electrochemistry, adhesives and structural materials. The principles of green chemistry are central concepts in the synthesis, while a range of advanced characterization techniques will be used to gain insight into structure-properties-performance relationship of the new materials.

This recruitment is connected to the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), wise-materials.org. WISE, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, is the largest-ever investment in materials science in Sweden and will encompass major efforts at Sweden’s foremost universities over the course of 10 years. The vision is a sustainable future through materials science. Read more: https://wise-materials.org. All early-stage researchers recruited into the WISE program will be a part of the WISE Graduate School, an ambitious nationwide program of seminars, courses, research visits, and other activities to promote a strong multi-disciplinary and international network between PhD students, postdocs, researchers and industry. The project aims to explore new methodology on design and synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for removal of CO₂. Electron diffraction will be used to study the crystal structures and properties of the MOFs. The novel materials are expected to be used as sorbents for CO₂ capture and catalysts for CO₂ reduction reactions.

The position will be associated with the project Lignin-based functional materials for a sustainable future (SUSLIG), funded by The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) within the Future Research Leaders flagship program. The project constitutes innovation-oriented research on lignin-based materials directed to solve challenges in the energy and environmental sectors. The Postdoctoral Fellow will have a central role in a five-membered project team that develops lignin-based materials for thermal energy storage and conversion, reversible chemistry towards reprocessable adhesives and structural materials, and stimuli-responsive gels for controlled release applications. The principles of green chemistry are central concepts in the synthesis, while a range of advanced characterization techniques will be used to gain insight into structure-properties-performance relationship of the new materials.

A postdoctoral research position focused on applying phylogenetic comparative methods to study behavioural and morphological trait evolution is available in John Fitzpatrick’s research group in the Department of Zoology at Stockholm University. The aim of this project is to examine and characterize trait evolution using large scale macroevolutionary approaches. Building on the lab’s recent work in this area, the project will take advantage of detailed trait databases to describe the evolution of behavioural and morphological traits looking across the animal tree of life. A range of comparative projects are possible depending on the interest and expertise of the applicant. Substantial infrastructure in the Department of Zoology allows for comparative approaches to be applied to a wide variety of taxa. There is also scope to combine experimental approaches (e.g., assessing social and sexual traits) in a phylogenetic framework closely related Poeciliid fish species maintained in laboratory populations within the Department of Zoology.

The project Amospheric rivers and the onset of Arctic melt – ARTofMELT investigates so-called Amospheric Rivers – distinct episodes with an inflow of warm and often moist air  – on the energy budget of the surface over Arctic sea ice. We are especially interested in if – and how – these influnce the timing of the annual start of the surface melt. ARTofMELT is centered around a research expedition to the central Arctic Ocean on the Swedish icebreaker Oden in May and June 2023, organized by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. On this expedition we will, together with an international team of scientists, conduct detailed observations of the atmosphere, sea ice and upper ocean. The position is funded by the Swedish Research Council.

Efficient and accurate models of the massive ice sheets on Antarctica and Greenland are key to reducing uncertainty in estimates of future global sea level rise. This project aims to improve the understanding of errors in ice-sheet models, numerical as well as modeling errors. This is in itself an important step towards reducing uncertainty in predictions of future ice sheet melt, but it also opens up for reliably using the Ice Sheet Coupled Approximation Level (ISCAL) method. The ISCAL method makes the inclusion of important coastal dynamics computationally feasible. It is a domain decomposition method set in a finite element method (FEM) framework. The advanced physical model is based on the p-Stokes equations and is automatically applied in regions of the ice sheet where it is needed, while the physics (and thereby computations) is simplified elsewhere. To ensure reliability of the model in long term simulations this project aims to give: 1) A better understanding of how the numerical accuracy of the advanced model depends on discretization choices 2) a better model error bound for reliable domain decomposition.

We are advertising a postdoctor position to work with an extensive group of researchers at Stockholm University on the development of a novel axion dark matter detector prototype using wire metamaterials. Such wire metamaterial designs can dramatically improve the sensitivity of direct detection axion experiments in high-mass ranges (≳ 20 μeV). We are conducting a search for an independent and driven experimentalist that is capable of leading design and verification for this detector prototype. The work includes the design process oversight, simulation, fabrication, assembly, and testing. The candidate will work with members of Dr. Jon Gudmundsson’s experimental group at the Stockholm University Physics Department as well as researchers specializing in fundamental axion theory development and the study of astrophysical axion signatures. The candidate will join the vibrant AxionDM research environment at Stockholm University (https://axiondm.fysik.su.se/). The AxionDM effort is led by Prof. Hiranya Peiris, with Prof. Frank Wilczek leading this detector development effort.

The Department of Geological Sciences (IGV), Stockholm University, is expanding the analytical capacity of its Laboratory for Stable Isotope analyses (SIL, SIL LAB) by adding equipment for measuring clumped isotopes. The concept of ‘isotopic clumping’ refers to bonding of ‘heavier’ isotopes of an element into rare isotopolouges (typically involving ¹³C-¹⁸O bonds). The isotope laboratory at IGV is already well equipped to perform isotope analyses of ¹³C, 15 N, ³⁴S, ²H, and ¹⁸O in organic and inorganic compounds and will now add a high-resolution HR-IRMS (High Resolution – Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry) with a KIEL IV unit to the facility.