PhD Fellowship/Scholarship

Applicants are invited for a PhD Fellowship/Scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Biological and Chemical Engineering programme. The position is available from 15 January 2026 or later. 

Title:

Bio-integrated carbon capture and utilization of flue gas CO2 to e-methane – exploring the power of biological processes for production of renewable fuel

Research area and project description:

You will be part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Center (CORC) with aim of developing knowledge and technology within the field of Carbon Capture and Utilization. You will be part of an interdisciplinary center, with experts inside biotechnology, chemistry, and engineering, joint in the effort to solve one of the greatest challenges of this century. For more information on the CO2 Research Center, please visit https://corc.au.dk 

For the position, you will use your expertise in biotech or chemical engineering to study how methanogens can be used for conversion of CO2 from dilute sources, like flue gas, to valuable products.

You will be developing new reactor systems for capture and conversion of CO2 into synthetic natural gas (e-methane). Your work will focus on developing and describing the intricate dynamics of biological reactors, working at the interphase of chemistry, microbiology, and engineering. Your work will support our continued development of novel solutions to tackle anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

You will be working in the research group “Microbial Conversion Technologies” as part of the Dept. of Biological & Chemical Engineering. As a group member you will be expected to be a team player, where you contribute to student co-supervision, teaching and day-to-day work of the group. We offer you a dynamic and inspiring workplace with access to state-of-the-art experimental facilities to support your research.

Project description: For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:

The ideal candidate has a relevant master’s degree in Biological, Chemical, or Process Engineering. The applicant should preferably have expertise or hands-on experience with three or more of the following subjects: 

• Experience with biological reactors (batch or continuous)
• Knowledge on gas-liquid mass transfer principles
• Experience with process or reactor modelling
• Experience with handling pure or complex anaerobic microbial cultures
• Chemical and microbiological analytical techniques
• Excellence in both written and spoken English
• The project can be modified according to the expertise of the candidate.

Place of employment and place of work:

The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work Gustav Wieds Vej 10D, DK-8000 Aarhus C and Burrehøjvej 43, DK-8830 Tjele.

Contacts:

Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact: 

• Michael VW Kofoed, mvk@bce.au.dk (main supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. 

How to apply:

Please submit your application by clicking the 'Apply' button

Application deadline is 24 November 2025 at 23:59 CET.

Preferred starting date is 15 January 2026.

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