Job Description

The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) invites applications in the fields of energy, advanced materials, and/or related disciplines for a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Tier 1 Canada Research Chair.

More specifically, the University is seeking an expert in electrochemical technologies (including electrochemical engineering) and functional eco-materials. These materials must be derived from critical and strategic minerals (CSMs) and/or renewable resources (e.g., biomass) and intended for applications related to energy and environmental transition. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: energy production, storage, distribution, and use (including batteries, fuel cells and other low-carbon hydrogen technologies), liquid effluent treatment (including the recovery of CSMs), and the valorization of solid waste. The proposed research program must align with UQTR’s Strategic Research Plan, with particular emphasis on its strategic priorities in Energy and Technological Innovation.

The following research areas are of particular interest to the institution:
1. Optimization of the use of critical and strategic minerals in energy systems (batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, etc.) to reduce dependence on critical and strategic minerals
while considering the integration of bio-based materials;
2. Study of material aging (particularly in operando) and consideration of the environmental impacts of emerging energy technologies (life cycle analysis, carbon footprint
assessment, etc.);
3. Development of technologies with enhanced performance and reliability under extreme climatic conditions, including both cold and hot environments;
4. Integration of advanced computational methods and artificial intelligence (AI) for the development of micro-nano systems (e.g., accelerated materials discovery) and complex
dynamic systems for energy-related applications.

The successful candidate will be expected to lead an independent, innovative research program and contribute to teaching and training activities of both undergraduate and graduate students. They will also be expected to foster and strengthen intersectoral research within the Joint Research Unit (UMR-UQTR-INRS), in close collaboration with members of the Hydrogen Research Institute (IRH), the Innovation Institute in Ecomaterials, Ecoproducts, and Ecoenergies Biomass-based (I2E3), and the National Integrated Centre for Intelligent Manufacturing (CNIMI). The UQTR-INRS Joint Research Unit employs a coordinator, a technician, two research associates (professionals), and postdoctoral fellows, all responsible for providing support to the unit’s faculty researchers in projects related to critical minerals, batteries, transportation electrification, and the energy transition. As part of the Chair’s activities, the successful candidate will be able to leverage the local ecosystem and collaborate with local stakeholders — building strategic industrial partnerships and ties with Centres collégiaux de transfert de technologie (CCTTs) — and benefit from existing connections among the various strategic clusters of the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQNT), particularly the Réseau Québécois pour l’Énergie Intelligente (RQEI).
The institutional research units (UMR-INRS, I2E3, IRH, CNIMI) own state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure aligned with the Chair’s themes, available to the Chairholder. More specifically, the Chairholder will have access to the energy transition technology platform in collaboration with UMR-INRS-UQTR. They may also submit a funding application to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to acquire additional equipment. The existing infrastructure includes:

1. Platforms and test benches for electrochemical and energy technologies, including hydrogen electrolyzer and fuel cell systems (PEMFC, PEMWE, and AEM), battery cycling stations across various scales (1 μA to 100 A), and test benches for GDL and corrosion analysis;
2. Electrochemical equipment, including potentiostats and rotating electrode systems;
3. Materials characterization systems, including PXRD, SEM/TEM microscopes with EDS/XEDS/EBSD detectors, a 3D optical microscope with LIBS, X-ray diffractometers, XRF instruments, ICP-OES systems, proton conductivity and contact angle measurement equipment, and a nano-sclerometer;
4. Manufacturing, processing, and deposition equipment, including gloveboxes and laboratory-scale battery production lines, high-temperature furnaces (up to 2,500°C), hydrometallurgical reactors, and systems for electrospinning, ultrasonic spraying, and cathodic sputtering;
5. Complementary analytical instruments, including a gas chromatography system and a fluoride release measurement system;
6. High-performance computing infrastructure.