Research Fellow in Experimental Soft Matter Physics

These two posts will form part of a £5M EPSRC Programme grant ‘Sculpting Dynamic Amphiphilic Structures’, a large-scale collaboration between Leeds University (Dr Simon Connell) and leading groups at Imperial College London and the Universities of Durham, Cambridge. The Researchers working on this project, in collaboration with PhD students and our external partners will work at the forefront of the emerging field of molecular membrane engineering to design and construct new biologically-inspired devices and systems based on lipid bilayer structures. This will revolutionise the design and fabrication of smart, soft materials and in the longer term, will lead to a paradigm shift in areas such as nanomedicine, bioelectronics, biological computing devices and synthetic cells. This project will involve a high degree of teamwork and interdisciplinary research.

Having completed a PhD in Physics or a closely allied discipline, you will prepare self-assembled structures of various amphiphillic molecules and study their morphology, dynamic properties and mechanical behaviour using surface sensitive techniques such as AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy), fluorescence microscopy, QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) and Langmuir isotherms/ deposition. Thermodynamic properties will be investigated using micro-calorimtery. Instrumental and technique development will play a central role in this project performed in close collaboration with theorists and industrialists. Further details are available on the CAPiTALs (Curvature, asymmetry and patterning integrated through all length scales) grant website. 

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Dr Simon Connell Tel: +44 (0)113 343 8241, email: s.d.a.connell@leeds.ac.uk