CASE Doctoral Studentship at Oxford

Details are given below of a CASE (PhD) Studentship at Oxford University.
This studentship, leading to a doctorate, would be particularly appropriate
for a chemist, physicist or materials science student with a strong interest
in computation.

Note that the deadline for applications is the end of June. Please circulate
to any of your students who might be interested.

Hugh

Dr Hugh Cartwright
Department of Chemistry
University of Oxford
 
Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory
South Parks Road Oxford, England OX1 3QZ
Hugh.Cartwright@chem.ox.ac.uk

http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/~hmc
 
 
Postgraduate Research DPhil Position
====================================

Industrial CASE Studentship in association with Shell Global Solutions

Applications are invited for an EPSRC Industrial Case funded PhD studentship
in experimental and computational Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance
Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS).

This project will commence in late August 2007 and will be jointly
supervised by Dr. Hugh Cartwright (Oxford University), Dr James McCullough
(Oxford University) and an Industrial Supervisor from Shell Global
Solutions. The student will be required to spend at least three months
during the project working with other scientists at one or more of the Shell
laboratories located in Chester, Amsterdam or Houston.

Field of Study
==============

Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) has
been used by a number of the major oil companies to characterize hydrocarbon
feedstocks and finished products down to individual species level in a field
known as Petroleomics. The molecular characterization of crude oil and
process streams is recognized as being important for the development of oil
reserves, crude purchasing, refining processing and designing new products.
At present conventional analytical techniques cannot provide the required
detail of information.

The application of FT-ICR-MS for high-resolution analysis has increased
greatly as a result of instrumental developments; for example, improved ion
transport optics and new cell designs have led to a significant increase in
sensitivity.

However, there still remains a significant challenge in how to handle the
mass of analytical data produced by this technique and how to turn it into
meaningful business value. The project, which will address this need, will
be split approximately evenly between practical mass spectrometry and the
development of computer-based analyses of FT-ICR-MS data.

The Applicant should have, or expect to attain before the start of the
project, a first or upper second class honours degree in Chemistry or
related area. The ability to communicate fluently in English is essential,
as is an interest in mass spectrometry and/or computational methods.

The post is available from 30 August 2007 for 3.5 years.
The closing date for applications is: 30 June 2007.

Each applicant must submit a complete application form (available from
www.admin.ox.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/forms) together with a transcript of
their degree results to Mrs J Blakeman, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Laboratory, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, England;
email: jane.blakeman@chem.ox.ac.uk

They should also arrange for two letters of recommendation to be sent to
this address in time for the closing date.

Informal enquiries can be made to Hugh.Cartwright@chem.ox.ac.uk
Received on Thu Jun 14 10:52:24 2007