Dottorando Industrial PHD

Vedi l’offerta su Go Lavoro: golavoro.it/annuncio-lavoro/7jlxrw

ZeoLunar — PhD position announcement

Fully funded PhD position in space technologies — sponsored by the Italian Space Agency (ASI)

ZeoLunar: Bio-inspired Carbon Structures and Zeolites for the Purification and Desalination of Lunar Water – From the Carbon Pseudosphere to Proof of Concept

Project Overview

We are recruiting a PhD candidate at the University of Calabria, Department of Physics, within the PhD programme in Physical, Chemical and Materials Sciences and Technologies (42nd cycle, A.Y. 2026/2027). The three-year scholarship is funded by ASI — Agenzia Spaziale Italiana.

Water ice trapped in the permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles is an enabling resource for long-duration surface missions. Once extracted and melted through in-situ resource utilisation, however, that water carries volatiles (NH₃, H₂S, SO₂), metal ions leached from the regolith (Fe²⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Al³⁺, Ti⁴⁺), and submicron particulate matter. To make it usable for crew consumption, O₂ production by electrolysis and closed-habitat cultivation call for selective molecular filtration that is compact, regenerable in situ, and free of consumables shipped from Earth.

ZeoLunar develops that filtration technology from first principles toward a working demonstrator—with a deliberate dual-use trajectory toward brackish-water desalination and emerging micropollutants on Earth.

Core Research Pillars & Theoretical Significance The project rests on five pillars, spanning theory, synthesis, characterisation and engineering:

- Geometry as a filtration mechanism. Aquaporins move water across cell membranes at extraordinary rates while rejecting Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl⁻, and they do so through their hourglass geometry. Reproducing that function in carbon is one of the most promising frontiers in nanoscience for water purification. ZeoLunar goes beyond the assembled nanotube–nanocone hourglass to target the hyperbolic carbon pseudosphere: a single continuous surface of constant negative Gaussian curvature, mechanically more robust and parametrically tunable via its radius and neck aperture.
- Zeolite-templated carbons as the experimental bridge. ZTCs are grown by chemical vapour deposition inside a zeolitic framework and inherit its three-dimensional topology once the template is dissolved. In FAU and BEA topologies, the zigzag channels and hourglass-shaped intersections generate locally negatively curved graphenic geometries — experimentally accessible approximations of the theoretical pseudosphere, with surface areas above 3000 m²/g and an exceptionally narrow and ordered micropore distribution.
- Modelling and characterisation.



DFT and molecular-dynamics simulations of water and ion transport through negatively curved nanopores, correlated with systematic XPS, SEM-EDX, adsorption calorimetry and BET/NLDFT porosimetry, and with isothermal and kinetic adsorption tests in the aqueous phase.
- From material to module. Design of a bench-scale proof of concept: a mixed zeolite–ZTC bed with flow distribution simulating lunar conditions and in-situ solar thermal regeneration, characterised for ion removal efficiency, throughput, regeneration cycles and energy budget.
- Carbon wormholes on a laboratory bench. The theoretical significance extends beyond the application. Since quantum fields on curved backgrounds describe the electronic properties of these materials, carbon pseudospheres are the physical settings where gravitational setups, such as black holes and wormholes, can be tested in a laboratory. The candidate will investigate impact of these geometries on the transport properties and how negative curvature reshapes the electronic Dirac cones, giving a controllable bench-test for curvature-driven phenomena, spatial torsion and topological defects. ZeoLunar treats molecular sieving as an observable consequence of that same curvature — turning a filtration problem into a quantitative test of the link between negative curvature and transport. Solid-state corresponding systems of this kind are increasingly used to probe gravitational theories, and that horizon is open to the candidate. The project's focus, however, remains the experimental probe of the geometry–transport connection.

Joint Training Ecosystem

- Host institution: University of Calabria (UniCal, Italy) — Department of Physics and STAR Research Infrastructure. Main supervisor: Prof. Raffaele G. Agostino.
- Theoretical physics and desalination mobility: with Prof. Alfredo Iorio, at Charles University in Prague (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics), National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) of Bologna (Italy) and at Democritos Technologies, Czech Republic, focusing on quantum field theory on curved graphene backgrounds and wormholes and on water purification.
- Industrial placement: with a zeolite producer based in Italy, focusing on zeolite post-synthesis, process engineering and patenting.

The scholarship amounts to at least €16,243 per year gross, increases by 50% during research periods abroad, and includes a dedicated research budget.





Candidate Profile

We are looking for someone holding — or about to obtain — a Master's degree or equivalent, with no age or nationality restrictions; qualifications obtained abroad are accepted. Backgrounds in physics, chemistry, materials science, and chemical engineering are all a good fit.

What matters most is the willingness to work across the boundary between theory and experiment toward a pre-industrial practice: an experimentalist curious about curved-space physics, willing to synthesise and measure their own samples, will thrive here. Prior experience with porous materials, electron spectroscopies, or CVD, and awareness of DFT/MD simulations are assets rather than requirements. Good command of English and readiness for extended research periods abroad and in industry are expected.

This scholarship has no residency requirement, and the interview is held online.

One eligibility rule is worth checking before you invest time in an application: under the national regulations, applicants who already hold a PhD degree, or who have already benefited from a doctoral scholarship — including a fraction of one — cannot take part in the selection.

How to Apply and Timeline

- Applications are submitted online only, via https://unical.esse3.cineca.it/, by 21 September 2026, 12:00 noon (Italian time).
- Select administrative category 3 (national public funding) and submit a research project of max 15,000 characters addressing the ZeoLunar theme, together with your CV and academic transcripts. Note: category 3 is shared; it also covers the FIS2, ITIAm-CNR and second ASI positions in the same programme, so the research project must explicitly address the ZeoLunar theme.
- A €10 application fee is mandatory and is paid through the PagoPA system, reachable directly from the Esse3 portal once the application has been uploaded. The application is valid only if both the submission and the payment are completed before the deadline — please do not leave either to the last hours.
- Titles evaluation published on 6 October 2026 — for this scholarship (category 3) the interview is held online on 12 October 2026 — courses start on 1 November 2026.
- Full call: Rectoral Decree no. 996 of 10 August 2026 — https://unical.portaleamministrazionetrasparente.it/archivio22_bandi-di-concorso_0_35736_874_1.html
- Programme page: https://fisica.unical.it/didattica/formazione-post-laurea/dottorato-di-ricerca/
- Contact address: (email hidden)

Questions are welcome — and please share with anyone who might be interested.

#PhD #PhDposition #SpaceResearch #ASI #ISRU #LunarExploration #Zeolites #MaterialsScience #Nanomaterials #WaterTreatment #Desalination #UniCal

Vedi l’offerta su Go Lavoro: golavoro.it/annuncio-lavoro/7jlxrw