Location:                      Falmer, Brighton, Sussex.

Contract type:             Fixed term, three years

Closes:                         14 March 2016

Job Ref:                        602

These two positions are funded by the EU commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie Initial Training Network, “Enabling Excellence”.

The successful candidates will register for the PhD in Physics and must submit their thesis for examination within four years.

An annual mobility allowance of up to €7,200 is payable.

The two positions offer excellent opportunities for extended exchanges to academic and industrial European network partners, accompanied by activities to develop business skills (with opportunities for spin-off development at the end of the project).  A significant component will be training in communication.  It is one of the skills which will ‘Enable Excellence’; whether your ambition is a research career, or one in the management of science in industry, or in the politics of framing international science policy.

The successful applicants will join the Materials Physics Group at the University of Sussex which combines the expertise of physicists, chemists, materials scientists and biologists in a range of application areas. They will also collaborate with several groups internationally. The group’s research interests focus on understanding the fundamental structure-property relationships in materials containing one- and two- dimensional structures such as carbon nanotubes, graphene and other layered nanomaterials.

Both positions will be directly managed by Professor Alan Dalton

Details of post ESR 1:
Kelvin Probe and Conducting Force Microscopy of graphene-based percolating films.

The fellowship will focus on developing a fundamental structure-property relationship for electrode structures based on graphene platelet networks and associated hybrid systems when coupled with other nanomaterials. The fellow will particularly focus on the use of kelvin probe microscopy and conducting force microscopy to study the electrical properties such as workfunction at the nanoscale so as to optimise the eventual material properties at the macroscale.

Details of post ESR 2:
Self-assembly of graphitic networks using polymer latex crystal templates.

The fellow will work on the fabrication of nanostructured composites for optoelectronic applications. Specifically, he/she will study and develop mechanisms for the organized assembly of graphene and other nanostructures using polymeric templates. The ultimate goal of the project is to establish a set of general design rules to control the bottom-up assembly of nanostructured composites with tailored optical and electrical properties for use as electrode structures.

Eligibility for both posts:

Candidates should hold an MSc degree or equivalent in Chemistry, Physics or a related discipline with a solid knowledge of Atomic Force Microscopy and/or Raman spectroscopy.

The researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the host organisation (UK) for more than 12 months in the 3 years preceding 01/10/2015.

Start date:

Negotiable, but an immediate start is strongly preferred.  Due to funder requirements, the latest possible start date is 31 March 2016.

The University of Sussex is committed to equality of opportunity