College of Natural Resources

Department of Forest Biomaterials

2820 Faucette Drive
Raleigh, NC 27695

PhD Positions at North Carolina State University

Multiple PhD positions with graduate research assistantship are available at Sustainability Analysis and
Innovation Lab (SAIL), Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University. The PhD
students will be fully-funded, including tuition, stipend, and benefits based on the university level. The
expected starting time is Fall 2024 or Fall 2025. We are looking for highly motivated students to work
together to address sustainability issues!

About SAIL
SAIL is led by Dr. Kai Lan (https://caesarlan1992.wixsite.com/0001, see the QR code below for more
information). SAIL develops innovative methods and integrated modeling frameworks to assess and
advance our industrial systems and the built environment related to sustainable bioenergy and
biomaterials. SAIL uses interdisciplinary approaches, including industrial ecology, sustainable engineering,
and artificial intelligence, to address the sustainability issues, especially in the context of climate change
mitigation and circular economy.

About the research areas

As graduate students at SAIL, you will have opportunities to contribute to one or several following
directions, or other directions that we find exciting:
➢ Sustainable energy and sustainable materials
➢ Carbon footprint and climate change mitigation
➢ Industrial ecology and sustainable engineering, artificial intelligence
➢ Forest carbon dynamics
➢ Soil carbon modeling
➢ Green building
➢ Upcycling solid waste
➢ Process design and simulation
➢ Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of emerging technologies

Qualifications
➢ Education background in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, environmental engineering,
material science, biological engineering, or other related fields;
➢ Experience in process-based simulation (e.g., Aspen Plus, SuperPro) is preferred;
➢ Strong interest in conducting research related to sustainability;
➢ Enthusiasm about exploring the unknown research world;
➢ Strong skills in academic writing and communication skills;
➢ Preferable if you have related research experience previously.

How to apply
Please send you resume/CV, transcript, a short personal statement (no more than one page), and your
previous research work (if any) to lanlabrecruit@gmail.com. The email subject needs to be in the form of
“Your Name_PhD_Application”.

In the SAIL, we strive for

the sustainability of humans

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