Development of Rapid Analysis Techniques for the Bioeconomy

We are looking for a person who will undertake a funded 3 year PhD at the University of Limerick in Ireland. The position will involve the following main tasks:

• Analysis of biomass feedstocks suitable for the production of advanced biofuels and platform chemicals.
• Undertaking detailed and selective protocols for the extraction of biomass and the analysis of these extracts for their content of potentially valuable chemical constituents (biomass extractives).
• Undertaking experiments related to the pre-treatment of biomass and then analysing the outputs from this process.
• Developing rapid analysis techniques, based on the principles of chemometrics and near infrared spectroscopy, for the composition of the starting biomass and the liquid and solid products of pre-treatment and extraction.

The position will involve collaboration with industry and European networking partners through associated Horizon 2020 projects.