Sd-25xxx 8 Phd Positions On The “sun-powered

Description
**Temporary contracts | 48 months | Belval or Luxembourg city**:
**Are you passionate about research? So are we Come and join us**:
Are you motivated to work in a diverse and multidisciplinary team?

Would you like to help this team solve fundamental questions that can lead to more sustainable energy and technologies?

**If so, you may be the person we are seeking for a PhD in **SPETRA**, a special doctoral training program focused on materials for the sun-powered energy transition. The SPETRA students will be supervised by researchers at the Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology (LIST) and the University of Luxembourg (uni.lu), and they will work on cutting-edge problems that cover different ways in which sun light can be used as an energy source.

It is widely recognized that a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies is critical for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring a habitable planet. The increased use of solar and wind energy is the most effective option.

Photovoltaics must play a central role in the energy production, and renewable “green hydrogen” is urgently needed as a fuel in sectors where electrification is not viable (e.g., heavy transportation) and for energy storage. Our ability to tackle the climate challenge will depend on the discovery or optimization of materials that enable an efficient sunlight-to-energy conversion and production of green hydrogen. Ultimately, it all relies on basic physical and chemical processes by which sunlight is captured by suitable materials.

SPETRA will run 8 cutting-edge research projects aiming exactly at that: We have assembled a team of experts from the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology. We will explore the most advanced photovoltaic materials for a direct sun-to-electricity conversion (4 projects), as well as alternative strategies that may allow us to create even more efficient solar panels by also making use of the heat generated by sunlight (2 projects). Additionally, we will study approaches to obtain hydrogen from water via chemical reactions (and novel catalytic materials) that we will optimize so sunlight boosts their efficiency (2 projects).

**How will you contribute?**:
SPETRA will run 8 PhD projects, which naturally split in three groups.

**Photovoltaics - 4 PhD positions (Projects 1 - 4)**:
Two students will investigate defects in the wide gap solar absorber material Cu(InGa)S2, a semiconductor used in super-efficient tandem solar cells.

The student in **Project 1** will investigate defects experimentally, mainly using photoluminescence techniques. This project will be supervised by Prof. Susanne Siebentrit

The student in **Project 2** will use advanced first-principles simulation methods to the same end. If you have an interest in solar cells and semiconductors physics, and some experience either in the lab or in quantum-mechanical simulations, these projects may be ideal for you This project will be supervised by Prof. Ludger Wirtz.

**Project 3** will be supervised by Prof. Phil Dale, while **Project 4** will be supervised by Prof. Alex Redinger.

**Sun-powered catalysis - 2 PhD positions (Projects 5 & 6)**:
In **Project 5** a student will study combined pyro
- and photo-catalysis for water splitting using ferroelectric materials. The experimental work will consist of synthesis of oxide and polymer materials, their microstructural/functional characterization, and catalytic tests. If you are interested in how Chemistry and Physics come together to power new strategies for catalysis, this project may be for you This project will be supervised by Dr. Sebastjan Glinšek,

The student in **Project 6** will design microreactors that enhance photocatalytic efficiency using porous capsules as optical traps, loaded with photocatalysts. The experimental work will involve the synthesis of suitable optical traps and photocatalysts, evaluating their performance for efficient water splitting under light irradiation. If you are interested in colloidal chemistry with a touch of nano-optics, this project may be for you This will be supervised by Dr. Jean-Sebastién Thomann.

**Pyroelectric energy harvesting - 2 PhD positions (Projects 7 & 8)**:
Two students will focus on the pyroelectric effect, i.e. the change in electric polarization in response to a temperature variation. This effect can be very strong in ferroelectric materials, and it can be used to harvest energy from temperature changes. We will investigate both experimentally (**Project 7**) and theoretically (**Project 8**) the phase transitions characteristic of the thermodynamic cycles used for pyroelectric energy harvesting, looking for optimization strategies to improve efficiency. If you are interested in phase transitions and functional materials, using either experiment or theory, one of these projects may be for you

**Project 7** will be supervised by Prof. Emmanuel Defay, while **Pr