We are looking for a highly motivated and committed candidate for a 12-month postdoctoral position founded by A*MIDEX (Aix-Marseille Initiative of Excellence) from March 1, 2021 at the Institute of Radical Chemistry (ICR, https://icr.univ-amu.fr/en/), affiliated to Aix-Marseille University and CNRS (Marseille, France,) as part of a consortium that also includes Interdisciplinary Center of Nanoscience (Marseille, France), Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne (Gardanne, France), Ludwig-Maximilians University (Munich, Germany) Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research (Mainz, Germany) and University of Bologna (Italy).

Context:

Pyrene is a remarkable chromophore in view of its excited-state properties and the dependence of its fluorescence upon the environment. Transition to pyrene oligomers and polymers, the key concept this project, opens important questions as to the delocalization of excitons and the mechanisms of energy transfer between the subunits. Such features will sensitively depend upon the way in which the pyrene moieties are connected.

This is why we target both linear and ribbon structures, with direct aryl-aryl couplings or with original additional bridges, thereby even including extended π-systems with helicity (chirality). The new conjugated 2D or 3D geometrical objects will also allow us to tackle the relation between topology and opto-electronic properties, for opening up a new direction and future perspectives in materials science and in polyaromatic chemistry.

The project is therefore well targeted for the advancement of an important area with a broad impact in chemistry, physics, nanoscience and bioscience.

Here, the successful candidate will be in charge of the polymerization of functional pyrene monomers and of the chemical characterization of the newly synthetized oligomers/polymers (mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography...).

Candidate profile:

The ideal candidate must hold a PhD for less than three years in polymer chemistry, organic chemistry or related fields. Experience in mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF, electrospray ionization…) will be a bonus.

Starting date: 1st April 2021 ; Duration: 12 months

Gross salary: ≈ 2500 € / months

Contact:

For further information or applications, please contact Dr. Sébastien Maria (sebastien.maria@univ-amu.fr) and Pr. Laurence Charles (laurence.charles@univ-amu.fr) with a detailed CV, a letter of motivation, a detailed academic record and 2 recommendation letters or contacts.