Current Vacancies

The optimal and as such sustainable operation of many bioprocesses, requires that the concentrations of important analytes within the process be monitored and controlled accurately and in real-time. At present, the control of many bioprocesses is hampered by the lack of cost-effective, accurate and rapid monitoring of individual analytes. Consequently, many bioprocesses operate inefficiently without any monitoring, or use inferences from inaccurate observations in determining a control strategy.

To address this industry wide issue, a biosensor platform technology is being developed in UCD that consists of a range of cost-effective biosensors each of which is specific to a single analyte. These sensors are being designed to enable multiple analytes to be simultaneously monitored in real time.

Applicants should submit in one document: a cover letter setting out your motivation for applying for the role and how your skills meet the requirements set out in this document and can contribute to achieving listed key objectives AND a full Curriculum Vitae to include the names and contact details of 2 referees (including email addresses), by August 9th 2024 17:00 (GMT) to:

Dr Joseph Sweeney Email: joseph.sweeney@ucd.ie

The overall objective is demonstrating the utilisation of semi-solid by-products and effluents created by the meat industry and the valorisation by CirCoVal’s concept by anaerobic digestion (AD) and pyrolysis to create renewable energy in the form of biogas and carbon sequestration via pyrolytic product-based soil additive. The anaerobic digestion will be carried out in a bespoke, optimised phase separated system which would be optimised to process a wide variety of substrates. This will be upscaled to a 1000L TRL 7 system along with the creation of a detailed mass flow and techno-economic model and a digital twin of the system to aide large scale implementation.

Applicants should submit in one document: a cover letter setting out your motivation for applying for the role and how your skills meet the requirements set out in this document AND a full Curriculum Vitae to include the names and contact details of 2 referees (including email addresses), by July 31st 2024 Noon (GMT) to:-

Professor James Lyng Email: james.lyng@ucd.ie and Dr Ajay Menon Email: ajay.menon@ucd.ie

The overarching aim is to explore the potential for novel technological interventions at various points in the anaerobic digestion process, either as pretreatments (to enhance matrix performance, bioavailability and community dynamics in AD), post treatments (to decontaminate or upgrade effluent in a more efficient fashion) or as interventions during anaerobic digestion (to stimulate the fermentation process). It is envisaged that these interventions will significantly improve yields while removing the capital and operation costs of AD plants. This would democratise the AD platform as a solution for biomass valorisation by bringing it within the reach of smaller and decentralised operators. The project will also aim to explore novel technologies for post-pasteurisation in existing AD plants using mixed biomass/waste sources which can dewater the digestate and render it into a high value material for peat free horticultural growth medium.

Applicants should submit in one document: a cover letter setting out your motivation for applying for the role and how your skills meet the requirements set out in this document AND a full Curriculum Vitae to include the names and contact details of 2 referees (including email addresses), by July 31st 2024 Noon (GMT) to:-

Professor James Lyng Email: james.lyng@ucd.ie and Dr Ajay Menon Email: ajay.menon@ucd.ie