PhD Student in Electrolyte Design and Machine Learning

The Department of Chemistry - Ångström conducts research and education in the field of chemistry.

The department has 270 employees and a turnover of 300 million SEK. Within the department's six programs, highly successful research of international caliber is conducted. We have a large number of externally funded research projects, often with international collaboration, and we see continued good growth within our field. The department has educational assignments within engineering and master's programs. More information can be found on our website (https://www.uu.se/institution/kemi-angstrom).

Job Responsibilities

The electrolyte is an indispensable component in all electrochemical storage devices. The discovery of new materials for electrolytes for batteries presents an enormous space of combinatorial possibilities, including chemical, compositional, and topological dimensions. To effectively overview these nearly infinite possibilities for electrolyte design, computational tools powered by machine learning techniques can be developed and utilized. The focus of this project will be on i) developing accurate ML force fields for simulating polymer electrolyte systems, and ii) developing new molecular representations used in ML predictions of polymer electrolyte properties. The PhD student will be part of the TeC group (TeC group (https://tec-group.github.io/)), which is part of the Ångström Advanced Battery Centre (ÅABC). This PhD position is part of a new 5-year NEST project, NEST project (https://wasp-sweden.org/nest-project-speed/) aimed at positioning Sweden at the forefront of materials science and AI research through collaboration between researchers at Uppsala University and Chalmers University of Technology.

This recruitment is linked to the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE (https://wise-materials.org/)). WISE, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, is the largest investment in materials science in Sweden ever and will involve significant investments at Sweden's leading universities over the course of 10 years. The vision is a sustainable future through materials science. Young researchers recruited to the WISE program will be part of the WISE Graduate School (WISE Graduate School (https://wise-materials.org/research/graduate-school/)), an ambitious nationwide program with seminars, courses, research visits, and other activities to promote a strong multidisciplinary and international network among PhD students, postdocs, researchers, and industry.

Qualifications

The applicant should have:

• a master's degree in theoretical chemistry (or related disciplines) and have good knowledge of physical chemistry and materials chemistry, or
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at advanced level (of which 15 higher education credits constitute independent work), with content relevant to the doctoral education or
• acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way, within or outside the country

The applicant must have excellent skills in written and spoken English and programming skills in Python.

Significant emphasis will also be placed on personal qualities such as good collaboration skills, drive, and independence, as well as how the applicant is assessed to have the ability needed to complete the doctoral education based on their experience and competence.

Desirable/meritorious

• previous experience in the development of MD techniques and (periodic) quantum chemical calculations.
• previous experience in machine learning applications in molecular modeling, including experience with at least three of the following Python libraries: TensorFlow, PyTorch, JAX, RDKit.
• previous experience in coding with GitHub.

About the Position

The position is temporary, according to HF Chapter 5 § 7. The extent is full-time. Start date 2025-11-01 or by agreement. Place of employment: Uppsala

Regulations for doctoral students can be found in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 §§ 1-7 and at Higher Education Ordinance (https://www.uu.se/medarbetare/organisation-styrning/regler/).

For inquiries about the position, please contact:
Dr. Chao Zhang, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]), +4618-471 3721,
Dr. Rocío Mercado Oropeza, [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Welcome with your application by 2025-07-24, UFV-PA 2025/1977.

Uppsala University is a broad research university with a strong international position. The ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a difference in society. Our most important asset is all 7,600 employees and 53,000 students who, with curiosity and commitment, make Uppsala University one of the country's most exciting workplaces.

Read more about our benefits and what it's like to work at Uppsala University here (https://uu.se/om-uu/jobba-hos-oss/).

The position may be subject to security clearance. A prerequisite for employment during security clearance is that the applicant is approved.

We kindly decline offers of recruitment and advertising assistance.

Applications are received in Uppsala University's recruitment system.