CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Non-Thermal Plasma Technology for CO2 Hydrogenation

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The opportunity

• Launch your career at Australia’s leading scientific research organisation!
• Exciting opportunity for an early career researcher with a PhD in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or Chemistry
• Join the team at Clayton with world-class facilities for catalyst synthesis, characterisation and testing

CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) Postdoctoral Fellowships provide opportunities to scientists and engineers who have completed their doctorate and have less than three years of relevant postdoctoral work experience. These fellowships aim to develop the next generation of future leaders of the innovation system.

In this position, you will lead a project that will encompass a broad range of cutting-edge technologies. You will benefit from working with a wide range of subject matter experts in the areas of material synthesis, catalysis and plasma technology while independently delivering the experimental program. 

Recent research indicates that the plasma-enhanced reaction process can achieve high levels of CO2 conversion and selectivity at significantly reduced temperatures. However, research on converting CO2 to methanol using non-thermal plasma technology is very limited. The successful candidate will work on developing catalysts and investigating process chemistry for non-thermal plasma CO2 conversion to methanol using different analytical techniques. 

CSIRO’s Clayton site has world-class facilities for catalyst synthesis, characterisation and testing. These include a High-Throughput Flow Testing facility for fast screening of the catalysts and versatile testing rigs for performance evaluation, including plasma catalysis reactors and power supplies.

Your duties will include:

• Work with the supervisory team to design and fabricate a novel plasma reactor with optimised energy efficiency for CO2-to-methanol conversion.
• Optimise the synthesis of catalyst materials for these plasma conditions.
• Design and set up analytical equipment necessary for the research.
• Carry out experiments to evaluate materials and reactors.
• Analysing and interpreting data to write publications and prepare proposals.
• Utilise both internal and external science networks to broaden expertise and guide delivery of project objectives.

Location: Melbourne (Clayton), VIC

Salary: AU$99,990 - AU$109,527 plus 15.4% superannuation

Tenure: Specified term of 3 years

Reference: 99749

To be considered you will need:

• A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, or similar. Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have no more than 3 years (full-time equivalent) of postdoctoral research experience.
• Experience related to catalyst materials synthesis and catalysis.
• Knowledge and experience related to reactor design, fabrication and testing.
• High level written and oral communication skills with the ability to represent the research effectively to both internal and external audiences, including presentation of research outcomes in publications and at national and international conferences.
• Knowledge and experience related to non-thermal plasmas, CO2 hydrogeneration, and/or in-situ DRIFT analysis and density functional theory calculation is high desirable.

For full details about this role please view the Position Description

Eligibility

Applications for this position are only open to Australian/New Zealand Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents and Australian temporary residents who hold a valid working visa for the duration of the specified term.

Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character requirements.

Flexible working arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. 

Diversity and inclusion

We are working hard to recruit people representing the diversity across our society, and ensure that all our people feel supported to do their best work and feel empowered to let their ideas flourish. 

About CSIRO

At CSIRO Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. We put the safety and wellbeing of our people above all else and earn trust everywhere because we only deal in facts. We collaborate widely and generously and deliver solutions with real impact. 

CSIRO is committed to values-based leadership to inspire performance and unlock the potential of our people.

Join us and start creating tomorrow today!

How to apply

Please apply on-line and provide a cover letter and CV that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role.

Applications close

9 June 2025, 11:00pm AEST