Research Assistant / Research Associate (Polymer Upcycling)

The School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) provides a vibrant and nurturing environment for staff and students to carry out inter-disciplinary research in key areas such as Computational Materials Science, Characterisation Materials Science, Defence Composite Materials, Functional Composite Materials, Energy, Nanomaterials, Low Dimensional Materials, Biomaterials Materials, Biological Materials, Bioinspired Materials and Sustainable Materials.

Our research group focuses on research areas relevant to macromolecular and hybrid materials, including topics in the fields of polymer science and engineering, composite science, environmental science, and so on.

For more details, please view https://www.ntu.edu.sg/mse/research.

We are looking for a Research Assistant/Associate to carry out R&D activities on the research directions of polymer waste pre-treatment for upcycling. The role will focus on developing mechanical or chemical pre-treatment methods for polymeric material, with research considerations also on scalability and environmental aspects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop mechanical or chemical polymer pre-treatment technologies for upcycling, particularly for polyurethane.

• Conduct research and development activities on polymer pre-treatment and mechanical/chemical pre-treatment, including formulation of problem statement, execution of lab-scale and pilot-scale experiments/operations, sample characterizations, data analysis, and so on.

• Prepare technical reports, intellectual properties documents, safety documents, and academic publications

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor or Master degree in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering, or fields related to polyurethane.

• At least 2 years graduate study or working experience in research and development on topics on polymer science, chemical engineering, and green technologies.

• Proficiency in hands-on and characterization techniques such as TGA, DSC, FTIR, DMA, rheology, etc.

• Industrial experience in polymer upcycling and productization is favorable

• Good team-player, good communication skill, problem solver, thinker and doer, able to exhibit leadership when needed

• Good wet laboratory practice and familiar with considerations on laboratory safety

• Passionate in research and solving real-time environmental issues related to plastic upcycling

• Entry level candidates are welcome to apply

We regret to inform that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.