At TechMark Arena 2026 – a master thesis school at RISE. 

About Digital Cellulose Center
Digital Cellulose Center (DCC) is a VINNOVA competence center with the vision of establishing an internationally competitive research environment, being coordinated by RISE. The environment provides expertise and infrastructure for industry-driven, excellent R&D in the area of digital cellulose-based products, which aims to make products an integrated part of the future sustainable, digital society and contribute to growth for Swedish industry. With DCC as a hub between industry and academia, Sweden has a leading role in bringing together research and industry and creating value for a sustainable society.

Background
RISE division Bioeconomy, with its infrastructure and leadership position as a global research institute in the field of pulp and paper technology, is well prepared to continue to push the conversion of an important part of the forest industry into digital production ages. Digitization of the process industry is a necessary step in reaching a sustainable, resource-efficient forest industry with global products in a bio-based world economy.

The electronics industry is increasingly shifting toward bio-derived materials that can replace fossil-based plastics, carbon blacks, and synthetic polymers. Advances in bio-based materials (lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, etc.) enable a new generation of biobased electronic components. To accelerate their commercialization, it is essential to understand not only their performance but also their economic competitiveness. The overall goal of the thesis is to develop a techno-economic framework for assessing emerging biobased electronic products.

Project research topics

• What are the advanced process routes for producing biobased materials for electronic applications? The focus in this case is on lignin-based graphite.

• What are the key techno-economic drivers (Cost, energy, scalability) for these processes?

• How do biobased products compare economically and environmentally to fossil-based electronic materials?

• How can forest-based feedstocks (cellulose, lignin) be integrated into existing electronic component value chains?

Project activities

1. Literature review of state-of-the-art production routes for biobased electronic materials

1. Conceptualization, scale-up, development of process flow diagrams and derivation of mass-energy balances based on experimental and literature data using suitable flowsheeting tools, such Microsoft Excel, MATLAB Simulink or similar.

1. Estimation of capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) using well established costing methods.

1. Conducting sensitivity and uncertainty analysis to identify key cost drivers and scale effects.

1. Report writing

Student profile
Successful candidates are expected to have a background in Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Process design, and System Analysis. With interest and experience in a summer job/practice in the forest industry processe.

Terms
Credits: 30 points
Compensation: 30 000 SEK after project completion and approval.
Location and start date: RISE Bioeconomy is located at Drottning Kristinas Väg 61, Stockholm. Master’s thesis starts in January 2026.

Supervisory team at RISE
Main supervisor: Chunyan Ma, +46 73 024 69 57

Co-supervisors: Sennai Asmelash Mesfun, Tatjana Karpenja

Interested?
Send in your application (CV and motivation letter) no later than November 27th.

Master Thesis, RISE, Stockholm, Process, Technoeconomic assessment