Phd Candidate Chemistry for Conservation and Art

**Faculty/Services**:Faculty of Science**Educational level**:Master**Function type**:PhD position**Closing date**:1-1-2025**Vacancy number**:13595- Are you a creative chemistry researcher who enjoys working in a very interdisciplinary environment to support the conservation of oil paintings? The Chemistry for Conservation and Art team at the Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences has a vacant PhD position in the PREPARE project. The aim is to develop physical model systems to monitor the effects of indoor climate conditions on the stability of paintings.**The goal of preventive conservation**
- Oil paintings slowly change as a consequence of internal chemical processes and interactions with their environment. Sometimes, these changes have undesirable effects, like mechanical damage or an altered appearance. The goal of preventive conservation is to minimize the undesirable material changes in cultural heritage objects like paintings, for instance by carefully controlling the temperature, humidity and pollutants in the environment. In this project you will work on a new approach to evaluate the effects of indoor climate conditions, by using highly responsive physical models of the materials in a painting as a type of dosimeter.- This PhD project was funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in the call ‘An Integrated Approach to the Scientific Study and Conservation of Art - Tracing change’, in the context of the Netherlands Institute for Conservation, Art, Science (NICAS). The project team also includes experts from the Rijkmseum, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) and Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg (SRAL).**What are you going to do**
- You will develop physical models of the materials in a typical Dutch oil painting (canvas, ground layers, paint layers and conservation materials like wax-resin linings), designed and chemically altered to be highly responsive to indoor climate conditions. The ageing behaviour of these models will be validated in the lab using artificial ageing, spectroscopy and mechanical testing, and they will be monitored in-situ in real uncontrolled indoor climates in historical buildings.**Tasks and responsibilities**:

- design, prepare, test and modify physical material models for oil paintings;
- characterize the chemical and mechanical properties of the model materials as a fuction of ageing;
- support the development of on-site low-tech monitoring tools for both model materials and real paintings;
- communicate and coordinate with fellow project team members;
- present your research in scientific publications and at (inter)national conferences;
- complete a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years.

To support you throughout your PhD, you will meet regularly with your supervisor, both individually and with other group members. You will take courses on how to successfully navigate a PhD, and additional optional courses for personal development are available (see benefits).**What do you have to offer?**
- You are a strongly motivated researcher, taking the lead to organize experiments and set up collaborations with other experts. You can work independently but know when to ask for help. You have the ability to find creative solutions for experimental problems, and evaluate your results with a large dose of scrutiny. You have, or have the ability to gain, a deep knowledge of the chemistry of materials in painted artworks. You are able to communicate with clarity to people with various levels of understanding of your work.**Your experience and profile**:

- excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
- practical experience with one or more chemical analytical techniques;
- a desire to work on applied research questions with societal impact.

**Our offer**
- We offer a temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting date is a soon as possible. This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.
The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between €2,872 to €3,670 (scale P). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance.- Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

- 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
- multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
- a complete educational program for PhD students;
- multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different c