PhD candidate: In bioderived materials for the additive manufacturing of sustainable and bio-degradable wearable electronics

About us
The project is hosted by bio-organic electronics units at RISE, which are strongly engaged in the development of next generation sustainable and stretchable electronic solutions by active collaboration with industrial and academic partners in the framework of national and international R&D programs. RISE, together with Linköping University, is currently managing state-of-the-art printing facility (PEA Printed Electronics Arena), with laboratories for chemistry (ink formulations and material developments), electronics (integration) and characterization (physical and electromechanical) of printed electronic devices.

Read more at: www.ri.se; https://www.printedelectronicsarena.com/en/; https://liu.se/loe

The position
We are looking an early-stage researcher for an industrial PhD student position. The main focus area of the employment will be bioderived materials for the additive manufacturing of sustainable and bio-degradable wearable electronics.

The position is part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network (call: HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01) entitled “Holistic integration of eco-Friendly dEsign tools, mateRials, fabrication technologies for the responsible co-creation of future Sustainable integrated electronic systems (FERNS)”.

Duties
The successful candidate will assess the use of low impact and possibly bioderived materials (e.g. lignocellulosic derivatives, natural gums, wax) as core components for the development of functional materials (inks and substrates) for application in printed wearables (e.g. e-patch and e-textile) technologies or smart farming.

Activities carried out in the project will be, but not exclusively: (i) development of bioderived and low impacting functional inks, (ii) development of bioderived films, (iii) development of processes for the printing of the developed materials on different commercial or project specific substrates and (iv) optimization of processes and strategies for the integration of components with different mechanical properties towards fully functional integrating system.

The project will include collaborations with external partners, including short stays in the Netherlands (ca. 1 month) and UK (ca. 1 month), to further develop technology applications.

The student will be enrolled in the industrial PhD program of Linköping University. Supervision of the student will be guaranteed by RISE with the support of Prof. Klas Tybrandt at the ITN department of the Linköping University. As part of his/her program, the student will have to follow courses (a maximum of 60 Credits depending on relevance of undertaken MSC courses); the student will be encouraged to design a multidisciplinary program of courses to help him/her to boost creativity and open mind thinking.

Qualifications
Qualified to PhD studentships are only those who are or have been admitted to graduate studies. The ideal student will have a Master in Material Science, Material Chemistry, Applied Physics or similar subject with significant expertise in the area of material development and characterization. During Bachelor/Master studies, the student will have taken courses in polymer physics, nanotechnology, physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry and material characterization. Knowledge in screen-printing and/or inkjet printing are desirable.

The student should have a genuine interest in science and for learning new skills, constancy for experimental work and initiative. Furthermore, the student should be able to work in collaboration with other scientist of different cultural/scientific backgrounds. Research at RISE and the Laboratory of Organic Electronics is carried out predominantly in English, so relative fluency is favorable.

Further mandatory requirements
1.MSCA Eligibility requirements: Applicants must satisfy the MSCA definition of Doctoral Candidates (DC): The applicants should not be in possession of a doctoral degree at the time of the call deadline. Candidates who have successfully defended their PhD thesis but have not received their degree will not be accepted.

2.MSCA Mobility requirements: Applicants must not have lived or carried out their main activity in Sweden for more than 12 months in the past 3 years immediately prior to the Call deadline.

3. FERNS Academic qualifications: Applicants must hold a relevant Master degree or equivalent at the time of the application. The educational background should fit with the required skills announced for each DC.

Exception: In case a candidate has not obtained yet their Master’s degree at the Call closing date (see individual project list), they can nevertheless apply. If a candidate is then part of the final ranking list and to be selected for one of the FERNS positions, before being offered a contract of employment, he/she will be required to send to provide the Master’s degree certificate (or, alternatively, a formal preliminary certificate) before the starting date of the employment contract.

Terms
The selected candidate will be appointed under a 36-months full-time employment contract with full social security and fiscal coverage, as foreseen by Sweden national legislation.

Starting date: May-June 2026, or by agreement.

Salary: The salary will be based on the allowances, set by the EU commission as part of the program, and on the regional taxation. As a PhD candidate you are normally paid from gross SEK 450 000 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority.

Welcome with your application!
Candidates should provide the following documents.

1 detailed CV, including information on the candidate’s proficiency in English; 1 motivation letter; 2 references;

3 attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates to prove the achievement of bachelor and Master degree.

4 additional documents that could help to evaluate the applicants’ education/training (e.g. language certifications) are also welcome.

Last day to send in your application is December 7. The selected (short-listed) candidates will be Invited for an interview by the supervisors.

“The data of the applicant will be collected in order to realize the selection procedure such as described in Grant agreement ID: 101226611- HE FERNS and will be communicated by RISE AB (selecting beneficiary) to the selection committee which is composed by representatives of the beneficiaries having part in the project. The candidate may refer to the .... (selecting beneficiary) in order to exercise her/his rights under art. 15 – 22 Reg. (EU) 2016/679.”

Contact person
For more information about the position please contact:

Valerio Beni
Senior Research Scientist, RISE
Valerio.beni@ri.se

For further information about labor unions, please contact the union representative, Ingemar Petermann, SACO, +46 10 228 41 22 and Linda Ikatti, Unionen, +46 10 516 51 61.