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Post-doctoral position in "Prebiotic Chemistry and Origin of Life"

Job Summary

Opportunity for junior researchers with a recent PhD degree in Physics or related fields to join one of DIPC’s high-profile research teams.

We seek an enthusiastic and dynamic postdoctoral researcher with a background in organic synthesis and characterization of organic compounds and organic and organomineral nanostructures.

The selected candidate will be part of the Laboratory of Mineral Self-organization and Origin of Life at the Donostia International Physics Center. The position is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) within the SYNERGY project entitled “The role of silica in the dawn of life on our planet” (PROTOS).

The project is fully interdisciplinary. You will be part of an international team including scientists and engineers from the University of Bremen, Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden), University of Hannover, CNRS-Toulouse- University of Brest, Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (Granada) Coordinated by the Donostia International Physics Center.

Job Description

Your role will be to help the team design and conduct experiments on prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life, characterize the diversity of compounds and structures forming, looking for increasing complexity. You should also be interested in the plausible applications of the results of these fundamental science experiments in advanced materials science and be ready to develop also that research line.

Desired background & competences
A broad interest in the early history of the Earth and the origin and evolution of early life.
Fluency in English and a willingness to travel and interact in a strongly interdisciplinary team.
Completed scientific university degree (Master's level or Diploma) and completed PhD in Chemistry, Organic chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or related sciences.
Proven skills in the synthesis of organic chemical compounds related to prebiotic chemistry.
Proven skills in the characterization of organic molecules by most advances techniques
Ability to demonstrate sufficient knowledge and expertise to manage shared instrumentation facilities used for research.


How to apply
Interested candidates should submit an updated CV and a brief statement of interest to the following application email below.

Reference letters are welcome but not indispensable.

The reference of the specific opening to which the candidate is applying should be stated in the subject line, and the application must be received before the application deadline.

Although candidates are welcome to contact the project supervisors to know further details about the proposed research activity, please be aware that the application will be evaluated only if it is submitted directly to the email address listed below as application email.

Reference: 2024/27
Application deadline: 2024/08/08


Selection process
Applications received by the deadline will be evaluated by a Committee designed by the DIPC board on the basis of the following criteria:

CV of the candidate (40%)
Adequacy of the candidate’s scientific background to the project (40%)
Reference letters (10%)
Other: Diversity in gender, race, nationality, etc. (10%)
Evaluation results will be communicated to the candidates soon after. Positions will only be filled if qualified candidates are found.

The DIPC may revoke its decision if the candidate fails to join by the appointed time, in which case the position will be awarded to the candidate with the next highest score, provided it is above 50 (out of 100).

However, the selected candidate may keep the position if, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, the candidate duly justifies the reasons why he or she cannot join before the specified deadline, and as long as the project allows it.



This project has been supported by ERC-2023-SyG grant PROTOS, under GA-101118811 funded from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme

Benefits

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