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- JOB - Netherlands - Wetsus - European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology - Posted on: 9 September 2026 9 Sep 2026 Wetsus - European centre of excellence for sustainable water technology Research Field Engineering » Chemical engineering Chemistry » Molecular chemistry Chemistry » Biochemistry Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 16 Oct 2026 - 15:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) Country Netherlands Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 40 Offer Starting Date 1 Mar 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe Reference Number 2026.18 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No Offer Description Research challenges The research challenge is to establish tools to predict and control property specifications of cellulose composites with co-polymer blends of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate). There is an expected window of batch-to-batch variability in the recovered PHA thermophysical properties and a requirement to monitor for fate of trace contaminants that must be maintained below regulated thresholds in the final product. Further there is opportunity to efficiently formulate high performance composite bioplastics directly in the PHA recovery process. Current methods do not adequately link a variability in the polymer production to the opportunity to directly tune and formulate bioplastics and composites in one step. In this project high quality cellulose will be produced from industrial flagship recycling of absorbent hygiene products, and PHA will be produced in a sister flagship industrial scale facility. Optimized composite bioplastic formulation strategies are to be developed and scaled up in collaborative activities of product prototyping. Tools for steering the composite property specifications through applied polymer science and ...