Postdoc Intern

Grace is seeking a postdoctoral intern to join our Specialty Catalyst R&D team! This role reports to R&D Manger of Polypropylene Catalyst Design located at Columbia.

This individual would work directly with a highly collaborative team of scientists on cutting edge innovation projects. 

The position offers candidates an opportunity to join a diverse and dynamic team of catalyst specialists supporting all projects and operations in the polypropylene catalyst business. Equipped with state of the art laboratories and equipment, the catalyst team synthesizes catalyst prototypes, characterizes catalyst and performance tests catalyst systems. 

This internship will run from the end of March through the end of 2024. An hourly rate plus a $3,000 stipend will be provided. 

Responsibilities

• Foster a safety-centric culture, fully engaging in all aspects of corporate and work group specific safety initiatives.
• Design routes and synthesize multi step organic targets for their use as catalyst components.
• Develop new methods for analysis of catalyst components employing analytical techniques such as NMR and GC/MS.
• Analyze data from experiments, generating concise and accurate summaries for the team and write technical reports summarizing work conducted during the internship.
• Demonstrate a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Operate, maintain, install, and troubleshoot problems with laboratory equipment, gloveboxes, and analytical equipment.
• Perform laboratory housekeeping.

Physical Requirements and Environment

• Ability to follow safety protocols and standards working in a laboratory environment with highly hazardous materials

Required Qualifications

• PhD degree in Organic or Organometallic chemistry or related field, with an emphasis on multistep organic synthesis.
• Proficiency with office based computer software (MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, etc.).
• Strong organization and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in air-sensitive chemical manipulations preferred, experience with reactive materials or organometallics considered a plus.
• Preferred 5 years of experience in a chemical laboratory.
• Experience with analytical method development and analytical techniques (GC/MS, NMR, etc.).
• Experience with purification techniques including chromatography, distillation, and recrystallization.
• Experience with polymerization processes. Knowledge of polyolefin catalyst considered a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative team environment
• Ability to present complex technical concepts to non-scientific audiences.