Internship contract – 4-6 months | Fulltime/40h | From 01.03.2025 on | Belval

Are you passionate about research? So are we! Come and join us

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) active in the fields of materials, environment and IT. By transforming scientific knowledge into technologies, smart data and tools, LIST empowers citizens in their choices, public authorities in their decisions and businesses in their strategies.

https://www.list.lu/

How will you contribute?

Gas sensors are key elements to monitor our environment and strongly participate to safety measures in industrial environments. Among harmful gases that need to be monitored, hydrogen is currently foreseen as a clean fuel to participate to the energy transition but suffers from a low explosion limit of 4 % in air, making leak detection mandatory for the general acceptance of hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen sulfide, which is found in natural gas, waste-water management and in several industries, is poisonous at a very low level of few parts per million. For these gases, it is important to develop low-cost and low-power sensors that can be widely integrated into gas infrastructures for an early detection.

The goal of the internship is to work on conductometric gas sensors based on new nanostructures, namely copper oxide-based materials and boron-nitride. Conductometric gas sensors are currently widely used in commercial gas sensors for sensing various pollutants due to their low cost, but they usually show low sensitivity to H2 and H2S. LIST has developed new materials that enable to combine this currently low-cost platform with higher sensitivity. Your aim as an intern is to integrate these new materials onto a gas sensor platform and to characterize their gas sensing properties, and more specifically their selectivity to hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide as compared to other atmospheric gases.

During the internship, you will participate to the fabrication of the gas sensor devices based on copper oxide and boron nitride nanostructures and will characterize the devices under various gas conditions to demonstrate their performances. You will moreover participate to the understanding of the gas sensing properties by combining the functional measurements under various conditions with advanced microscopic characterization techniques.

You will be mainly in charge of:

·         Participating to the gas sensor devices based on copper oxide and boron nitride nanostructures.

·         Characterizing of the gas sensors under various gas conditions to demonstrate their performances.

·         Analysing the obtained results to extract relevant sensing parameters.

·         Developing the understanding of the gas sensor response to the targeted gases.

·         Reporting regularly on the obtained results to the project team from LIST and to partners of the project.

Is Your profile described below? Are you our future colleague? Apply now!

Education

·         Master in material science or solid-state physics

Experience and skills

·         Good knowledge in the measurement of electrical properties of materials

·         Good understanding of materials characterization techniques.

·         Programming in Python is an asset.

Language skills

·         Good level both written and spoken English

Your LIST benefits

An organization with a passion for impact and strong RDI partnerships in Luxembourg and Europe that works on responsible and independent research projects;

Sustainable by design, empowering our belief that we play an essential role in paving the way to a green society;

Innovative infrastructures and exceptional labs occupying more than 5,000 square metres, including innovations such as our Viswall, high-scale incubators and top of the range 3D/4D printings that are part of our toolkit for excelling in all we do;

Multicultural and international work environment with more than 45 nationalities represented in our workforce; 

Diverse and inclusive work environment empowering our people to fulfil their personal and professional ambitions;

Gender-friendly environment with multiple actions to attract, develop and retain women in science;

32 days’ paid annual leave for a full time internship, 11 public holidays per annum, flexible working hours,

An environment encouraging curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship in all areas.

Apply online

Your application must include a motivation letter oriented towards the position and detailing your experience.

Application procedure and conditions:

We kindly request applicants to provide their nationality for statistical purposes only, as part of our commitment to promoting diversity and ensuring equal opportunities in our workforce. This information will be kept confidential and will not be used for any discriminatory purposes.

LIST is dedicated to maintaining an inclusive work environment and is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to attracting, hiring, and retaining a diverse workforce. All applicants will be considered for employment without discrimination based on national origin, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, religion, age, or disability.

Applications will be continuously reviewed until the position is filled. An assessment committee will thoroughly evaluate applications, adhering to guidelines designed to ensure equal opportunities. The primary criteria for selection will be the alignment of the applicant's existing skills and expertise with the requirements mentioned above.