About the position

Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences, and Maritime Sciences has a vacancy for a position as PhD Research Fellow in CO2-safety of storage and transport. The position is open to start within the spring of 2019.

University of South-Eastern Norway

University of South-Eastern Norway has about 18 000 students and about 1500 employees. The university is organized in four faculties, with instruction and R&D activities on eight campuses.

The main profile of the university is to provide socially relevant education, geared towards specific professions, and adapted to the requirements of the workplace, as well as to produce applied research and development.

The position is organized underneath the Department of Process, Energy and Environmental Technology, and reports to the Head of Department. The fellow will be working in the research group for Process Safety, Combustion and Explosions. The place of employment is Porsgrunn.

About the PhD-project

The research task will be within the safety of CO2 systems related to accidental releases. CO2 is transported and stored as a liquid at high pressure and an accidental release may cause high concentrations of CO2 in the surroundings or even blast waves due to rapid phase change (BLEVE). If CO2 is transported in pipes below the sea, an accidental release may cause rapid phase transition.

The research will be experimental and theoretical studies on the accidental release of liquid CO2 to surrounding air or surrounding water in lab scale.

Several projects on rapid depressurization and phase transition in liquid CO2 have been carried out in the laboratory at USN. This project will continue from previous projects and expand the research to include underwater releases at various water pressures.

A conical rig has also been constructed to study the effect of a diverging cross-section on phase transition rates and wave speeds in sudden depressurization. Experiments using this rig will also be a part of this project.

The appointment is for a period of three years.

Qualifications

Applicants to the PhD position must have a Master’s degree or equivalent higher education qualifications in physics, process technology, chemical engineering or mechanical engineering. It is desirable that the candidate have strong academic knowledge within the field of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and optical measurement methods.

We are looking for a candidate that have published papers in international journals in the relevant field of research, have relevant experimental or industry work experience.

It is a requirement that the successful applicant is granted admission to the university college’s doctoral programme in Process, Energy and Automation Engineering. According to the formal PhD regulations, an average grade B or better from the Master degree, in addition to a grade B or better of the final master thesis, is required.

In addition to formal qualifications, the emphasis is put on motivation for research, ability to work independently and focused, the ability to work in a team, good communication skills, good command of the English language, and good skills in computer programming.

We offer

• A professionally stimulating working environment.
• Good opportunities to develop your career and your academic skills
• A good social environment
• Attractive welfare benefits in the State Pension Plan
• Opportunity for physical activities within working hours

Salary

PhD Research Fellow (code 1017): NOK 479 600 a year. Further promotion will be based on service in the position. In special cases, employment in code 1378 may be considered. Salary NOK 479 600- 600 200 a year. A statutory contribution will be made from the employee’s salary to the state pension plan.

Other information

Appointment to the position will be carried out by the Appointments Board for PhD Research Fellows. An expert assessment of applicants will be carried out. Short-listed candidates will be called in for interviews and must be prepared to present and discuss their projects.

The successful applicant must comply with the laws, regulations and agreements that apply to the position.

It is an aim of personnel policy that the academic staff of University of South-Eastern Norway should reflect the composition of the general population. It is therefore a personnel policy objective to achieve a balanced age and gender composition on the faculty and to recruit people from ethnic minority backgrounds. People from ethnic minority backgrounds are encouraged to apply for the position.

There are few women employed in research positions at the Department, and consequently women are especially encouraged to apply.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information act § 25 2 paragraph, information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, even though the applicant has requested non-disclosure. The applicant will be informed if his/her request has been declined.

Contact information

For further information concerning the position please contact Professor Knut Vågsæther, knutv@usn.no , phone +47 35 57 52 14 at Department of Process, Energy and Environmental Technology.

How to apply

University of South-Eastern Norway uses online applications. We therefore ask applicants to register their application and CV online by clicking on the “Send application” link to the right. The application must include the following documents:

• Certified diplomas and certificates from university college/university
• Master’s thesis summary
• A short presentation (max one page) of the motivation for a PhD study
• Any scientific publications and a list of these
• Three references (contact information)

Please note that all documents must be translated into English or a Scandinavian language by an authorized translator.

Send application