Posting Title
Postdoctoral Researcher – Membrane Separations and Chromatography for Plastics Chemical Recycling

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Location
CO - Golden

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Position Type
Postdoc (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week
40

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Working at NREL
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our eight employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

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Note: Research suggests that potential job seekers may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who is interested in this opportunity to apply. We seek dedicated people who believe they have the skills and ambition to succeed at NREL to apply for this role.

Job Description

The Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center at NREL has an opening for a full time Postdoctoral Researcher within the bio-separations group. Our group is conducting research to enable realistic, cost effective processes for biomass conversion and chemical recycling of waste plastics. The initial appointment is for one year, with possible renewal up to three years.

This position focuses on the design of innovative, cost-effective separations processes in the area of plastics chemical recycling. Specifically, the position has three main objectives that stem from our recent work published by Sullivan, Werner, Ramirez, Ellis et al. in 2022. The successful candidate will develop membrane-based and / or chromatographic methods for the recovery of monomers from depolymerized plastic streams, enable these methods in continuous mode operation, and recover preparative quantities of monomers from the process streams. Other separations approaches will be developed for recovery of homogeneous catalysts and solvents.

The successful candidate will be able to:

• Work safely and independently in a laboratory setting
• Plan and execute research in collaboration with other researchers
• Communicate scientific results effectively, both in written and oral formats
• Author peer-reviewed publications, and
• Work effectively in a large, multidisciplinary team of engineers and chemists.

BEST Directorate

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Basic Qualifications
Must be a recent PhD graduate within the last three years.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Expertise and experience in designing, operating, and scaling novel separations processes, especially membranes, chromatography-based methods, and / or distillation methods
• Troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Strong record of quality peer-reviewed publications
• Strong safety record and ability to follow complex standard operating procedures

Preferred Qualifications

•    Familiarity with chromatography (simulated moving bed systems (SMB) or counter current chromatography (CCC) systems), ion exchange, liquid-liquid extraction.
•    Experience in membrane engineering and applications.
•    Experience in reactive separations.

Literature: Candidates are encouraged to read the following relevant publications from our group:

1) https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo4626 
2) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383586621020347
 

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Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)
Job Profile: Postdoctoral Researcher / Annual Salary Range: $71,300 - $117,600

NREL takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees. In compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.

Benefits Summary
Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; short-term disability insurance*; pension benefits*; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match*; life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance; personal time off (PTO) and sick leave; and paid holidays. NREL employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement- based awards that include a monetary component. Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement.

* Based on eligibility rules

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If you are offered employment at NREL, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana. If you test positive on the pre-employment drug test, your offer of employment may be withdrawn.

Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at NREL you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. Applications are not kept on file for future positions. Please include a cover letter and resume with each position application.

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EEO Policy

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