Department Description:

Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering (DCME) is the research department for materials science and technology at Nazarbayev University and conducts cutting-edge research for the benefit of industry and the well-being of society.

Professor Zhumabay Bakenov’s  Group in DCME Laboratory for advanced energy storage systems performs physical vapor deposition (PVD) of functional thin films and coatings, with a particular focus on deposition of Li-ion microbatteries. Our goal is to develop microbatteries with improved properties, but also to synthesize entirely new functional materials (http://batterykazakhstan.com/).

Job Description:

Position will focus on PVD of thin film microbatteries using high vacuum apparatus and device fabrication/characterization. Extensive technical work, such as equipment maintenance and repair, should be expected. The RA will also be responsible for high-level literature review and technical publication in impact factor journals.

Qualifications:

B.S. or MSc degree in physics, materials science, chemistry, electrical engineering, or related field.

Knowledge of glovebox integrated thin film deposition systems (PVD, thermal evaporation, etc.), and characterization using surface science systems (SEM, XPS, XRD, and AFM).

Knowledge of state of the art energy storage systems. High level of English proficiency is required.

Experience in laboratory setting is desired. Experience in preparation/submission of publications and presentation of original research at conferences/meetings is preferred.

Contact details:berik.uzakbaiuly@nu.edu.kz 

A research position for a Bachelor or Master’s Degree holder in the area of Silicon Photonics and Microwave Photonics at Nazarbayev University starting from September 2021.

Interested applicant should be open to work in new areas. Former recipients of Bolashak scholarships are also welcome to apply. Background in any of the following areas is required: electrical engineering, Physics and Material Science Engineering (with emphasis on semiconductor device physics).

Please send your inquiry with CV if interested at ikechi.ukaegbu@nu.edu.kz

Green Energy and Environmental Research Group (GEERG) in National Laboratory Astana (NLA) and Nazarbayev University (NU)  is looking for graduate student researchers (M.S. & Ph.D. students), researchers (B.S. & M.S. degree holders),  and postdoctoral research fellows in the fields of (1) Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment, (2) Carbon Sequestration and Life Cycle Assessment, (3) Environmental Catalysis for Water and Wastewater Treatment.

• (1) Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment: Main soil and water bodies of Kazakhstan have been contaminated by heavy metals, organic chemicals, micro plastics, and radioactive compounds. Sampling and measuring of the contaminants are challenging but needs to be achieved for the proper Risk Assessment. The newly hired researchers will measure the contaminants and modeled ecological and human health risk using the well developed stochastic risk assessment protocol. We need student researchers and researchers who have interest in the measuring these contaminants and running the stochastic risk assessment models. Analytical chemists and equipment operators who have experiences in the sampling and measurement of the environmental contaminants are highly recommended.
• (2) Carbon Sequestration and Life Cycle Assessment: Kazakhstan needs to reduce the carbon emission by near future with a significant amount. One of the most promising technique for the reduction of carbon emission is carbon storage in the specific geological formation (deleted oil wells). The carbon would be also sequestered by an environmental chemical process, Carbonation. Along with the development of environmental technologies, life cycle assessment for the environmental processes and facilities are important for the effective reduction of carbon emissions. We are looking for the  student researchers and researchers who have interest and experiences in geochemistry and environmental chemical engineering. They will carry out in-situ and ex-situ CO2 storage and carbonation simulations with experimental and computational tools.
• (3) Environmental Catalysis: The research group has been synthesized diverse catalysts for the treatment of surface and ground waters and soils contaminated with organic and inorganic contaminants. Now we are synthesizing the bimetallic catalysts supported porous materials and Metal Organic Frame Works for the treatment of heavy metal contaminations in Kazakhstan. Student and researchers who have strong interest and experiences in chemical environmental engineering, catalyst chemistry, and material sciences are highly recommended for the position.

Position: Research Assistant (part-time/full-time), Nazarbayev University

Project Title: Investigating the Gender Gap in Science, Engineering and Technology in Kazakhstan: Causes and Interventions.

Qualifications & Competencies:

We are interested in hiring Research Assistants RAs for:

• Business Analytics,
• Statistical Modeling,
• regression analysis (probit)
• MCDM (AHP, Topsis, etc)

Please submit a resume/CV and a letter of interest to mariza.tsakalerou@nu.edu.kz

Position: Research Assistant (full-time,40 hours a week), Nazarbayev University

Project Title: Investigating the Gender Gap in Science, Engineering and Technology in Kazakhstan: Causes and Interventions.

Job Description:

Qualifications & Competencies:

• Master’s degree in Education/Social Sciences or other related disciplines.
• Good proficiency in written/spoken Kazakh, Russian and English;
• The ability to work independently
• Good organizational, analytical and time management skills;
• Data Analysis (STATA/ others)

Desirable:

• The ability to collect data from universities located in different regions of Kazakhstan
• Experience in conducting research on gender gaps.

Please submit a resume/CV and a letter of interest to mariza.tsakalerou@nu.edu.kz

• Occupied as Research Assistant in NU-funded research project (full-time, 40 hours per week)
• Deadline for application: until filled, but not later than end of February 2022
• Project tile: Shape Optimization of Free-form Functional surfaces using isogeometric Analysis and Physics-Informed Surrogate Models (SOFFA – PHYS) https://research.nu.edu.kz/en/projects/shape-optimization-of-free-form-functional-surfaces-using-isogeom
• Lead Principal Investigator: Dr. Eng. Konstantinos Kostas, Nazarbayev University, KZ
• External Collaborators:
  • Dr. Eng. Panagiotis Kaklis, University of Strathclyde, UK
  • Dr. Eng. Constantinos Politis, University of West Attica, GR
  • Dr. Eng. Alexandros Ginnis, National Technical University of Athens, GR
• Project description: This is a research project funded by Nazarbayev University in the context of Faculty-development competitive research grants program for 2022-2024 and it will start in January 2022. The research team will focus on the development of computational tools and methods for optimizing the design of functional free-form surfaces, such as airfoils/hydrofoils, wings, blades, propellers and ship hulls, appearing in several important engineering applications. This project aims to enhance and extend the work of the research team members in the areas of IsoGeometric Analysis (IGA) using Boundary Element Methods (BEM) and the corresponding IGA-enabled solvers that were employed successfully in design optimization of free-form functional surfaces in a variety of engineering applications. Specifically, we would like to:

1. Extend/enhance our team-developed toolbox of IGA-enabled BEM solvers to tackle a wider range of flow simulation problems accurately and efficiently;
2. Reduce the dimension of the design space for shape optimization problems that still depend on relatively high number of parameters, and finally
3. Introduce physics-informed surrogate models (including physics-informed neural networks) for optimization cases which still bear a prohibitive computational cost.

• Job description: As a successful applicant, you will join Nazarbayev University (NU), School of Engineering and Digital Sciences (SEDS) as a full time Research Assistant (RA). You will work closely with Prof. Konstantinos Kostas on design optimization using IGA-BEM solvers and surrogate models and you will be responsible for the development and/or modification of existing software modules. You will have an opportunity to work with all team members and use NU’s premises and facilities. It is indispensable that you are driven by analytical work and data analysis. You should be self-motivated and be able to integrate with a team of well-established
  researchers. Applicants with a master’s degree will have the opportunity to enroll for a PhD in 2022. A minimum output of 1 Q1/Q2 journal publication per year is expected for postdoctoral researchers. Contracts for postdoctoral researchers range between 6 months (minimum) to 2.5 years (maximum).
• Required qualifications, skills & competencies:
  • An MSc degree in engineering, physics or mathematics, if applying for a PhD candidate position / A PhD in engineering, physics or mathematics, if applying for a postdoctoral position.
  • Good knowledge of mathematical representation of curves, surface, and solids used in Computer Aided Design (B-Splines, NURBS, etc.).
  • Working knowledge of IsoGeometric Analysis and its application to FEM and/or BEM.
  • Basic knowledge of surrogate models and use of Neural Networks in engineering applications.
  • Good programming skills (C++ and MATLAB or similar).
  • Fluent in oral and written communication in English.
• Desirable skills and/or experience
  • Good knowledge of Computer Aided Engineering packages (e.g., ANSYS, COMSOL)
  • Experience in programming for multiple cores and processors (OpenMPI or similar)
  • Good mathematical background
  • Good knowledge of at least one Computer Aided Design package (e.g., SolidWorks, CATIA, Rhinoceros, etc.)
  • Basic knowledge of Russian or Kazakh languages
• Salary: up to 1000USD/month for PhD candidates, up to 2500USD/month for Postdoctoral researchers
• Application: Please submit a full CV/Resume with two reference letters and a motivation letter to project’s P.I. (konstantinos.kostas@nu.edu.kz)