About MNEXT and the Biobased Building Blocks & Products Research Group
You will be working within the Biobased Building Blocks & Products research group, which focuses on the synthesis, processing and application of biobased polymers and building blocks. This internship is part of the BioColEol project, which builds on previous advances from the CurCol and ECOPRO projects.
Biobased colorants such as curcumin—a natural yellow pigment extracted from turmeric—offer great potential as sustainable alternatives. Although widely used in the food industry, curcumin suffers from limited UV stability, which restricts its use in other sectors such as the plastics industry. Previous research within the project has successfully improved the UV and chemical stability of curcumin by modifying its chemical structure. In this internship, you will further optimize the synthesis of these enhanced yellow and red colorants and explore new colorant structures from alternative biomass sources.
Assignment Description
During this internship, you will work on:
- Optimizing synthesis routes for improved biobased yellow and red colorants
- Exploring chemical modifications to increase thermal, chemical, and photostability
- Investigating new biobased colorant candidates from alternative biomass streams
- Characterizing produced colorants using advanced analytical techniques (HPLC, LC-MS, NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, TGA, DSC)
- Processing colorants into polymers and assessing performance, including lightfastness and colorimetric measurements (CIELAB)
- You will be guided by researchers from the Biobased Building Blocks & Products group and work in the state-of-the-art laboratories of the Joint Research Centre Breda (JRCB).
Desirable Skills
We are looking for a student who:
- Is a bachelor’s or master’s chemistry student, or from a closely related discipline
- Has experience and interest in organic synthesis
- Has experience with HPLC, NMR, IR, MS, UV-Vis, or is willing to learn
- Has strong proficiency in Dutch and English
- Can work independently and carry out laboratory research after an introduction
What We Offer
- Two challenging internship positions in the new Joint Research Centre Breda, equipped with modern facilities
- An internship fee of €350 per month
- A supportive, multidisciplinary team and opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge sustainable materials research
Practical Details
Location
Joint Research Centre Breda (JRCB), The Netherlands
Duration
Approximately 20 weeks
Working Language
Dutch and English
Compensation
€350 per month