Academic Associate: Mechanochemical Process Development

Hefr; Freiburg; On-site; CHF 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

HEIA-FR in Fribourg invites applications for an Academic Associate UAS Mechanochemical Process Development. The project develops a solvent-free bead‑reactor technology to bridge lab discovery and industrial application.

You will lead the synthetic and process‑development core, run experiments from lab to pilot scale, and build datasets for predictive scale‑up while contributing to standardized workflows for industry adoption.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in chemistry or chemical engineering with experience in organic synthesis.
• Strong interest in interdisciplinary research involving synthesis, process development, characterization, and chemical engineering.
• Ability to conduct cutting‑edge R&D with initiative, creativity and a problem‑solving mindset.
• Rigorous, autonomous and well‑organized experimental work, with careful data documentation.
• Enthusiasm, resourcefulness and teamwork skills; readiness to be on the look‑out for improvements and ability to approach and solve problems in a creative way.
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills, basic communication skills in French and/or German is a plus

Responsibilities

• Lead the synthetic and process-development core, bridging lab discovery and industrial application.
• Design, run and interpret transformations in mechanochemical bead reactors, from lab to pilot scale.
• Establish advanced metrics as decisive benchmarks and generate datasets for predictive scale-up models.
• Deliver validated scaling rules and a reproducible lab‑to‑industry transfer methodology.
• Interact with the consortium, present at conferences, and uphold lab safety and good scientific practice.
• Scale up to pilot plant with the industrial partner, verifying robustness and reproducibility.
• Consolidate results in a standardized scale-transfer workflow and guidelines for industrial adoption

Skills

English

French basics

German basics

Data documentation

Experimentation

Teamwork

Problem solving

Education

Master's degree in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering

Job description

HEIA-FR in Fribourg invites applications for an Academic Associate UAS Mechanochemical Process Development. The project develops a solvent-free bead‑reactor technology to bridge lab discovery and industrial application.

You will lead the synthetic and process‑development core, run experiments from lab to pilot scale, and build datasets for predictive scale‑up while contributing to standardized workflows for industry adoption.