PhD: Scalable Lipid Nanoparticle Purification & CFD

Delft University of Technology; Delft; On-site; EUR 34,000 - 43,000; Full time

Job summary

PhD position at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Precision Therapeutics/Complex Fluid Processing groups to design scalable purification technologies for lipid nanoparticles. The project focuses on improving purification by filtration and exploring novel membrane materials and flow geometries, with close collaboration with industry partners.

The four-year doctoral program offers a mixture of computational modelling, experimental validation, and interaction with pharmaceutical

Qualifications

• MSc or equivalent in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nanotechnology or related field.
• Analytical mindset with ability to work across computational and experimental domains.
• Excellent communication skills in English, and want to work in a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience in computational fluid dynamics simulations or pharmaceutical downstream processes is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Computational modelling with CFD simulations
• Investigate the flow, diffusion and filtration in tangential flow filtration systems
• Implement correlations to model build-up of fouling and its effects on filtration capacity
• Develop novel flow geometries that balance throughput (maximising production rates) and mechanical stress on lipid nanoparticles (minimising loss of LNPs)
• Experimental verification
• Experimentally verify the use of alternative membranes for LNP purification.
• Experimentally verify modularisation options for the purification train, including use of quick connectors.

Skills

Analytical mindset

English communication

Cross-disciplinary teamwork

CFD simulations

Education

MSc or equivalent in Chemical Engineering/Process Engineering/Mechanical Engineering/Nanotechnology or related field

Tools

CFD simulations

Job description

PhD position at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Precision Therapeutics/Complex Fluid Processing groups to design scalable purification technologies for lipid nanoparticles. The project focuses on improving purification by filtration and exploring novel membrane materials and flow geometries, with close collaboration with industry partners.

The four-year doctoral program offers a mixture of computational modelling, experimental validation, and interaction with pharmaceutical