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The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology wishes to appoint an Accounts Assistant to help support our busy finance team.

The successful candidate will undertake the administration of accounts and maintain financial records within the Department to contribute to the management of Departmental finances.

The role will undertake the administration of accounts and maintain financial records within the Department in order to contribute to the management of Departmental finances. The postholder will also assist in the provision of a largely autonomous accounting and purchasing service, responsible for the processing of about 4500 invoices per annum of total value £2M. Grant income is £6M per annum. The postholder will have purchasing responsibility up to £5,000, and will undertake cash management, journal transfers, and various accounting reports. The postholder will also provide cover in Stores during periods of leave of Stores personnel, due to the nature of the work manual handling training will need to be completed for this role. Other key tasks in Stores includes assisting members of the Department in the ordering via the online system and receipting goods.

Educated to A- Level standard or equivalent, the post holder will be expected to have (or be working towards) an appropriate AAT qualification and also have previous experience working in an Accounts environment. A successful candidate would need to demonstrate knowledge of facts, principles, processes and general concepts related to Finance/Accounts Administration.

Further information about the Department is available from the website: https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/.

We are looking for someone who has the ability to communicate at all levels and who can maintain a high level of accuracy whilst working to deadlines. Along with familiarity with Microsoft Office packages will also be expected along with experience of appropriate reporting tools. The ability to work within a small team is essential.

Depending on your individual circumstances, we may not be able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ51192 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology wishes to appoint an Accounts Assistant to help support our busy finance team.

The successful candidate will undertake the administration of accounts and maintain financial records within the Department to contribute to the management of Departmental finances.

The role will undertake the administration of accounts and maintain financial records within the Department in order to contribute to the management of Departmental finances. The postholder will also assist in the provision of a largely autonomous accounting and purchasing service, responsible for the processing of about 4500 invoices per annum of total value £2M. Grant income is £6M per annum. The postholder will have purchasing responsibility up to £5,000, and will undertake cash management, journal transfers, and various accounting reports. The postholder will also provide cover in Stores during periods of leave of Stores personnel, due to the nature of the work manual handling training will need to be completed for this role. Other key tasks in Stores includes assisting members of the Department in the ordering via the online system and receipting goods.

Educated to A- Level standard or equivalent, the post holder will be expected to have (or be working towards) an appropriate AAT qualification and also have previous experience working in an Accounts environment. A successful candidate would need to demonstrate knowledge of facts, principles, processes and general concepts related to Finance/Accounts Administration.

Further information about the Department is available from the website: https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/.

We are looking for someone who has the ability to communicate at all levels and who can maintain a high level of accuracy whilst working to deadlines. Along with familiarity with Microsoft Office packages will also be expected along with experience of appropriate reporting tools. The ability to work within a small team is essential.

Depending on your individual circumstances, we may not be able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ51192 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology wishes to appoint an Accounts Assistant to help support our busy finance team.

The successful candidate will undertake the administration of accounts and maintain financial records within the Department to contribute to the management of Departmental finances.

The role will undertake the administration of accounts and maintain financial records within the Department in order to contribute to the management of Departmental finances. The postholder will also assist in the provision of a largely autonomous accounting and purchasing service, responsible for the processing of about 4500 invoices per annum of total value £2M. Grant income is £6M per annum. The postholder will have purchasing responsibility up to £5,000, and will undertake cash management, journal transfers, and various accounting reports. The postholder will also provide cover in Stores during periods of leave of Stores personnel, due to the nature of the work manual handling training will need to be completed for this role. Other key tasks in Stores includes assisting members of the Department in the ordering via the online system and receipting goods.

Educated to A- Level standard or equivalent, the post holder will be expected to have (or be working towards) an appropriate AAT qualification and also have previous experience working in an Accounts environment. A successful candidate would need to demonstrate knowledge of facts, principles, processes and general concepts related to Finance/Accounts Administration.

Further information about the Department is available from the website: https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/.

We are looking for someone who has the ability to communicate at all levels and who can maintain a high level of accuracy whilst working to deadlines. Along with familiarity with Microsoft Office packages will also be expected along with experience of appropriate reporting tools. The ability to work within a small team is essential.

Depending on your individual circumstances, we may not be able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ51192 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology is seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to step into the ongoing project. The project is part of a large collaborative research effort involving Imperial College London, University of Bristol and three other groups at Cambridge. More information about the overarching project can be found here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/bio-sustainable-materials/

VALUED is aiming to demonstrate the development of functional materials derived from bio-renewable resources. Several different applications are being developed in the project. The experimental programme involves development of high-throughput experimental capability (at Imperial College London). The SRE group (Prof Lapkin) is developing ML methods supporting the experimental HT workflows. The team at Cambridge has its own high-throughput and robotics facilities. In this final period of the project the team will focus on ML-assisted experimentation for developing functional materials based on bio- and natural polymers. Practical knowledge of high-throughput chemical experiments and good experience in developing predictive machine learning models for chemical problems are essential for this position.

The successful candidate will be supervised by Prof. Alexei Lapkin and will be based at the Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies (https://idmt.online). iDMT hosts academic and industrial researchers from the centre members. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to activities within iDMT in collaboration with member companies, in the areas overlapping with the expertise involved in the VALUED project.

Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 12 months.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ51006 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology is seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to step into the ongoing project. The project is part of a large collaborative research effort involving Imperial College London, University of Bristol and three other groups at Cambridge. More information about the overarching project can be found here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/bio-sustainable-materials/

VALUED is aiming to demonstrate the development of functional materials derived from bio-renewable resources. Several different applications are being developed in the project. The experimental programme involves development of high-throughput experimental capability (at Imperial College London). The SRE group (Prof Lapkin) is developing ML methods supporting the experimental HT workflows. The team at Cambridge has its own high-throughput and robotics facilities. In this final period of the project the team will focus on ML-assisted experimentation for developing functional materials based on bio- and natural polymers. Practical knowledge of high-throughput chemical experiments and good experience in developing predictive machine learning models for chemical problems are essential for this position.

The successful candidate will be supervised by Prof. Alexei Lapkin and will be based at the Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies (https://idmt.online). iDMT hosts academic and industrial researchers from the centre members. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to activities within iDMT in collaboration with member companies, in the areas overlapping with the expertise involved in the VALUED project.

Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 12 months.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ51006 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Nat Protoc. 2026 Aug 24. doi: 10.1038/s41596-026-01425-y. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Modern water treatment and resource recovery demand materials that combine high performance with real-world durability. Traditional remediation approaches (e.g., precipitation and coagulation) have drawbacks (e.g., poor selectivity) that can be overcome using adsorption-based strategies. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer high tunability, high uptake capacities and the potential for regeneration. Translating MOF adsorbents into scalable, reliable technologies requires consistent method reporting and improved mechanistic insight, toward improving long-term stability in realistic water matrices. In this protocol, we describe how to deploy and assess the performance of MOF-based adsorbents for simultaneous heavy-metal sequestration (e.g., Pb(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Mn(II)) and rare-earth element recovery (e.g., Nd(III), Y(III) and Dy(III)) from complex water matrices. The workflow is broadly applicable across MOF chemistries and is illustrated using Cu(II)-based frameworks as representative model systems, synthesized at gram scale using commercially available precursors. We stabilize these frameworks through controlled defect engineering (e.g., partial metal substitution) to mitigate hydrolytic degradation and prolong operation time. We further tune morphology (e.g., nanosheets) to enhance surface accessibility and enable recyclability. For industrial applicability, we shape the MOFs into macrobeads via a green process. The procedure comprises: (i) MOF synthesis; (ii) comprehensive pre-adsorption characterization to assess crystallinity, porosity, morphology and composition using powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry; (iii) mechanistic adsorption assessment with kinetic, isotherm, thermodynamic, pH and selectivity analyses; (iv) regeneration and recovery workflows; and (v) deployment considerations in complex aqueous matrices, including industrial effluents, saline waters and e-waste leachates. The protocol provides a reproducible framework for implementing MOF-based adsorption technologies in water remediation and circular resource applications.

PMID:42637844 | DOI:10.1038/s41596-026-01425-y

Nanoscale. 2026 Aug 6;18(30):16310-16332. doi: 10.1039/d5nr04817f.

ABSTRACT

A traditional MOF design often maximizes generic metrics such as BET surface area and crystallinity, assuming they universally predict performance. In this study, we present a machine-learning-guided optimization framework for MIL-100(Fe) from experimentally synthesized samples. All materials were synthesized via an acid-free, water-based hydrothermal route. We trained small-data ML models to link synthesis parameters, including temperature, time, metal-to-ligand molar ratio, and ion concentration, to key properties comprising surface area, total pore volume, average crystallite size, crystallinity, yield, and methylene blue (MB) removal. SHAP analysis showed that time and the metal-to-ligand molar ratio dominated dye removal, whereas surface area was more sensitive to temperature and time. The most accurate model, Gaussian process regression, was coupled with a genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize synthesis for property-specific targets. Through optimization, the BET-optimized sample increased the surface area from the highest baseline value in the initial experimental dataset, 1748 to 1841.9 m2 g-1, corresponding to a 5.37% relative increase. The MB-optimized sample increased MB removal from the highest baseline value in the initial experimental dataset, 88.6% to 98.3%, corresponding to a 9.7 percentage-point improvement and a 10.9% relative increase. The MB removal optimized sample with a surface area of 1274.3 m2 g-1 and 17.4% crystallinity delivered the highest MB uptake of 98.3%, corresponding to the highest adsorption capacity under the benchmark test conditions. While the optimized sample for surface area reached 1841.9 m2 g-1 (about 44% higher) with 34.9% crystallinity but achieved only 85.1% removal, about 13% lower than that of the optimized MB sample, indicating that even substantial increases in surface area do not govern adsorption performance. A qualitative t-SNE embedding of the descriptor space shows that the optimized samples occupy distinct neighborhoods, elucidating that MOF synthesis should be tailored to the target application rather than a single metric such as surface area.

PMID:42421429 | DOI:10.1039/d5nr04817f

Membrane-based separations are central to addressing major sustainability challenges, from securing critical metal supplies for the energy transition to enabling energy-efficient water treatment. Developing the next generation of membrane processes requires predictive computational models that connect molecular-scale phenomena to system-level performance. However, the thermodynamics and transport behaviour of concentrated, multi-ion aqueous solutions remain poorly understood, limiting rational membrane design and process optimisation.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) at the University of Cambridge welcomes applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project developing computational models for selective ion transport in complex aqueous mixtures. The research combines molecular simulation, thermodynamic modelling, and continuum transport theory to build predictive frameworks for membrane-based ion separations.

The role will involve molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to understand ion-solvent and ion-membrane interactions, alongside the development of continuum-scale transport models. This is an opportunity to be a member of a new research group working at the interface of molecular simulation, chemical thermodynamics, and membrane science.

You will report to Dr Akshay Deshmukh (PI), a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at CEB. You will work alongside an experimental PDRA and collaborate with international project partners. You will have access to CEB's world-leading facilities and the broader Cambridge research ecosystem, including the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery.

You will be expected to publish in high-impact journals, develop and release open-source computational tools, and present findings at international conferences. You will also gain experience in research leadership, grant writing, and mentoring, with support from the PI to help you achieve your career development goals.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 24 months in the first instance.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ50329 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Membrane-based separations are central to addressing major sustainability challenges, from securing critical metal supplies for the energy transition to enabling energy-efficient water treatment. Developing the next generation of membrane processes requires predictive computational models that connect molecular-scale phenomena to system-level performance. However, the thermodynamics and transport behaviour of concentrated, multi-ion aqueous solutions remain poorly understood, limiting rational membrane design and process optimisation.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) at the University of Cambridge welcomes applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project developing computational models for selective ion transport in complex aqueous mixtures. The research combines molecular simulation, thermodynamic modelling, and continuum transport theory to build predictive frameworks for membrane-based ion separations.

The role will involve molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to understand ion-solvent and ion-membrane interactions, alongside the development of continuum-scale transport models. This is an opportunity to be a member of a new research group working at the interface of molecular simulation, chemical thermodynamics, and membrane science.

You will report to Dr Akshay Deshmukh (PI), a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at CEB. You will work alongside an experimental PDRA and collaborate with international project partners. You will have access to CEB's world-leading facilities and the broader Cambridge research ecosystem, including the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery.

You will be expected to publish in high-impact journals, develop and release open-source computational tools, and present findings at international conferences. You will also gain experience in research leadership, grant writing, and mentoring, with support from the PI to help you achieve your career development goals.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 24 months in the first instance.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please quote reference NQ50329 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.