University of Padua

The University of Padua was founded in 1222 and it is one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious academic institutions. It is placed at "high-ranking positions" in both Italian and international ranking agencies for its quality of teaching and research activities as well as student life quality. The city of Padua is located near the cities of Venice and Milan which are easily accessible through frequent high-speed trains.

Homepage: https://www.geoscienze.unipd.it/en/

We invite applications for a Ph.D. position to develop an integrated process for critical elements (CEs) recovery with CO₂ mineralization using mining waste under the supervision of Dr. Valentina Prigiobbe (University of Padua, Italy). The materials will be provided by a mining company in Italy with whom the PIs has an ongoing collaboration on this project. Experiments and modeling activities will be carried out in conjunction with process modeling for process control and scale-up.

Applicants should have a master’s degree and a strong background in either chemical engineering, process engineering, environmental engineering, chemistry, geosciences or a related field. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are necessary, and the knowledge of the Italian language is not required. A Ph.D. guide for international students is available here: https://www.unipd.it/en/phd-guide.

The Ph.D. position is funded for three years, which is the maximum duration of a Ph.D. in Italy, and starts on November 1st, 2026. During the Ph.D. program, the successful applicant will have the opportunity to spend up to 6 months in another academic institution abroad with an increase of 50% of the salary for that period.

Interested applicants should send their curriculum vitae, statement of research interests, and full contact information of three references to Dr. Valentina Prigiobbe at: valentina.prigiobbe@unipd.it. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until May 5, 2026.