Missions

We have an open PDRA position (fully funded) on biocompatible stimuli-responsive polymer/colloid mixtures at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides in Orsay, France funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) through a Pathfinder Open research grant. This grant was awarded to a research consortium composed of groups from Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands), The Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg (Switzerland), CNRS/University Paris-Saclay (France), and University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (Italy). The consortium will be coordinated by the “Veltha” association from Brussels (Belgium).

This research will be carried out at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides which falls under the auspices of the University Paris-Saclay and the CNRS. The research project will be supervised by Rik Wensink and William Fall. The starting date is 1 September 2025, or soon after. The duration is one year maximum.

Activités

The project aims to develop theoretical models for mixtures of lyotropic colloidal liquid crystals (CLC) and stimuli-responsive hydrogels (SRH) and predict their phase behavior and mechanical properties. Systems of interest are mixtures of supramolecular polymers mixed with colloidal nanorods or platelets that may be polymer-grafted as well as charged. The research is primarily of a fundamental nature but will be instrumental for the development of novel classes of hybrid SRH-CLC materials for use as bionic muscles with anisotropic actuation properties in response to external stimuli. The project involves a close collaboration with the Physical Chemistry group of Prof. Remco Tuinier at Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands).

Compétences

The ultimate goal of the project is to create materials that mimic and eventually surpass the mechanical properties of natural muscles and that, in the long term, will be implantable in living tissues. Collaborations with all consortium partners active in biophysics, biology, physical chemistry, and 3D printing will be an important aspect of the project.

Job requirements:

• An PhD degree (or an equivalent university degree) in (Applied) Physics, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, or related disciplines.
• A research-oriented attitude.
• Ability to work in a team and collaborate with research partners within the EU project.
• Research background in statistical mechanics of soft matter. Experience with theoretical/numerical work on colloidal and polymeric systems is essential.

Contexte de travail

The Solid State Physics Laboratory is a joint research unit (UMR 8502) of the University of Paris-Saclay and the CNRS. It is affiliated with the CNRS Institute of Physics and the 28th section of the National Council of Universities.

The LPS is a member of the Friedel-Jacquinot Federation, a physics coordination structure on the Moulon plateau in Orsay (IdF). It brings together around one hundred researchers and teacher-researchers, experimentalists and theoreticians, and research activity is supported by around sixty engineers, technicians and administrative staff.

The laboratory welcomes a large number of undergraduate and graduate students each year, including many doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral researchers and visiting scientists. The laboratory covers a wider variety of topics than its name suggests, and aims to address the full diversity of condensed matter physics. Research activity is organized around three main areas, each involving roughly the same number of scientists:

• New electronic states of matter

• Physical phenomena at reduced dimensions

• Soft matter and the physics-biology interface

The first axis includes both experimental and theoretical studies relating to the properties of systems in which electronic correlations are generally strong and which are the seat of remarkable properties and unconventional electronic states such as superconductivity, magnetism, metal-insulator transitions, etc. The second axis includes activities relating to "nanoscience" in the broad sense. They are approached here from the point of view of fundamental properties, when the dimensions of an object become as small as certain characteristic distances (coherence length, mean free path, etc.). The third axis extends the concept of "soft matter" to biological systems. The themes therefore range from complex systems to living tissues, from liquid crystals to foams, including polymers and granular systems. These physical studies are at the interface with physical chemistry and biology. The research work will be carried out within the theory team of the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (CNRS-UMR 8502).

Contraintes et risques

None