Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. At Aalto, we are dedicated to societally meaningful research, artistic work and education, with the aim of tackling the complex challenges of our time. We are a community of 4000 faculty and experts and 11 000 students.

We are now looking for a talented and highly motivated

PhD candidate in the field of computational chemistry (Prof. Kari Laasonen) at Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering.

The research is related to molecular level modelling of electrochemical reactions. The research will focus on development of new catalysts for electrochemical reduction of CO₂ (CO2RR). We will do close collaboration with Prof. Tanja Kallio’s group (in Aalto University) which will synthesis new catalyst for CO2RR. Our aim is to understand the reaction steps on these new catalysts and help to develop even better catalyst.

Requirements

As a successful applicant, the candidate should have good knowledge of quantum mechanical molecular modelling and DFT based methods. Knowledge of surface modelling or electrochemical modelling is appreciated. M.Sc. degree is required and preferably from Physical Chemistry, Physics or equivalent fields. The applicant needs to comply the Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering requirements for a Ph.D. student. More details: https://into.aalto.fi/display/endoctoralchem/Chemical+Engineering

Salary

Salary will be determined upon competence and experience of the applicant following the salary system of Finnish universities.

For more Information

For additional information, please contact Professor Kari Laasonen (e-mail: [email protected])  

How to apply

The application material should include:

• A letter of motivation
• A complete curriculum vitae describing education and employment history
• Transcript of studies

All material should be submitted in English. The application material will not be returned.

The applications are to be submitted through the eRecruitment system no later than 31.7.2019.

Some relevant publications

1)    Mohammad Tavakkoli  et al. (Tanja Kallio, Kari Laasonen) Single shell carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles: synthesis and high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 54, 4535–4538 (2015). DOI: 10.1002/anie.201411450. Highly cited paper (Web of Science).

2)    Nico Holmberg, and Kari Laasonen, Ab Initio Electrochemistry: Exploring the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Carbon Nanotubes, J. Phys. Chem. C. 119, 16166 (2015).

3)    Tavakkoli, M.; Holmberg, N.; Kronberg, R., Jiang, H; Sainio, J; Kauppinen, E.I; Kallio, T; Laasonen, Kari, Electrochemical Activation of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Pseudo-Atomic-Scale Platinum for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, ACS Catal. 7, 3121-3130 (2017)

4)    Garold Murdachaew and Kari Laasonen, Oxygen evolution reaction on pristine and nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, J. Phys.Chem. C, 122, 25882-25892, (2018), DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b08519

5)    Nico Holmberg and Kari Laasonen, Diabatic model for electrochemical hydrogen evolution based on constrained DFT configuration interaction, J. Chem. Phys. 149, 104702, (2018).