PhD Fellowship Available in Bioproducts/Bioeconomy Development at North Carolina State University

The Forest Biomaterial Department at North Carolina State University is seeking candidates for a PhD Fellowship to do research in biobased products through an awarded USDA grant titled, Preparing Diverse and Rural Students and Teachers to Meet the Challenges in the Bioproducts and Bioenergy Industry (approximately $2.75 million over the next four years). The Fellowship is for a maximum of four years of support including a stipend of about $23,000, tuition, and benefits.

The Fellows will perform research in the area of new bioproducts, with opportunities in the chemistry, engineering, techno/economic analysis, and environmental life cycle analysis of such products. The Fellows will also work as a team to carry out the project as detailed below. The Fellow’s project service work, classes, professional development and PhD research will be constructed so that they all are synergistic. This will prepare Fellows to have a successful research career in the area of sustainable production of products from renewable sources.

USDA Project Description for Preparing Diverse and Rural Students and Teachers to Meet the Challenges in the Bioproducts and Bioenergy Industry:
The long-term goal of this project is to develop the skills of diverse undergraduate college students and rural science high school teachers in order to advance the future of America’s bioeconomy. The five project objectives are listed below.
(1) Develop five online college courses critical for the bioproducts and bioenergy industries.
(2) Create a certificate program including distance courses that will enable diverse undergraduate students to become career ready for the bioproducts and bioenergy industry.
(3) Develop an internship and career opportunity network by initiating connections for undergraduate students to industry, government, and research organizations.
(4) Create a certificate program that includes distance classes and hands-on workshops for rural science high school teachers to earn a certificate in bioproducts and bioenergy.
(5) Promote the use of bioproducts and bioenergy lesson activities in science classes in order to promote bioproducts and bioenergy career awareness to rural, underrepresented high school students

Previous experience and/or documented knowledge in one or more of the following areas are highly recommended to apply:
• Life Cycle Assessment methodologies and ecosystems services assessment
• GIS and mathematical programming (e.g., Matlab, R, Python, GAMS)
• Chemical process modeling and simulation (e.g., AspenPlus or similar software)

For More Information Contact:
Dr. Richard Venditti, richardv@ncsu.edu
Dr. Elizabeth Nichols, egnichol@ncsu.edu
Dr. Yuan Yao, Yuan_Yao@ncsu.edu