We are working on chemically fuelled supramolecular materials, and are looking for postdocs to develop new reaction cycles and time-programmable materials. You should have a background one (or more) of the following: supramolecular chemistry, systems chemistry, physical chemistry, non-linear dynamics, soft matter physics, microfluidics, or related. Positions should start from 1 March 2022 latest and are 1 year (renewable). You should be willing to apply for the Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (of course supported by Prof. Hermans). Please send your CV and motivation email directly to Prof. Hermans.
Despite the great advances in stereoselective synthesis and chromatographic separation methods during the last decades of the 20th century, chiral resolution is still a major challenge in pharmaceutical, food, pesticide and fragrance industries, and a very costly step in the production process. The possibility to achieve chiral separation through alternatives methods is therefore appealing and has found renewed interest in the past decade. One idea is that fluid flows could induce chiral migration, as initially proposed by Howard. Achieving separation of enantiomers without the use of a chiral stationary phase, but just by flow is not fully understood, but if successful would be of great benefit to the pharmaceutical industry. Over the past few years, we have studied increasingly smaller chiral structures. Your job is to shed light on the physical processes involved (you need a background in fluid dynamics, applied physics, or chemical engineering), and perform relevant experiments to push mechanical separation into the single-molecule domain. Knowledge on aggregation/crystallization behavior is beneficial.
The “Life-Cycle” ERC proposal aims to develop a new class of artificial supramolecular materials that are kept in sustained non-equilibrium states by continuous dissipation of chemical fuels. Supramolecular polymers in current artificial materials stick together through weak reversible bonds that can be exchanged by thermal energy. In contrast, natural supramolecular polymers such as those in the cytoskeletal network use chemical fuels such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to achieve an incredible adaptivity, motility, growth, and response to external inputs. Development of chemically fueled artificial supramolecular polymers should therefore lead to more life-like materials that could perform functions so far reserved only for living beings.
The proposed materials are based on supramolecular reaction cycles that have both positive and negative feedback in order to achieve emergent properties, such as oscillations and waves. Since the building blocks react, but also self-assemble they have built-in chemomechanical properties, much like in living materials such as the cytoskeleton.
https://rdcu.be/b3ZuFIt was a long process, but our work on wall-less liquid ‘antitubes’ is now online. Watch the short intro movie that explains the key concepts! Read for free here: https://rdcu.be/b3ZuF
Online group meetings are the new norm now it seems… soon to be followed by online conferences, PhD defenses, …. Let’s hope we can get back to the lab soon!
We are glad to have organized the event in ISIS and we special thank the invited speakers Muriel Muzet, Petra Hellwig, Eloïse Devaux, Fanny Richard and Kamila Muchowska for their inspiring talks.
On the occasion of the United Nations Day of Women and Girls in Science, all around the world scientists are coming together for the IUPAC Global Breakfast.
We are going to participate by organising a breakfast at the 6th floor of ISIS on February 12th.
The theme of this year is “Bonding to create new future leaders” and the aim is to connect and exchange progress and future plans with fellow scientists and expand our networks and horizons.
The World Economic Forum recognizes 21 brilliant researchers under the age of 40 at the cutting edge of discovery with the announcement of its Class of 2019 Young Scientists. The Young Scientists play an important role at the Forum’s 13th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, Dalian, People’s Republic of China, 1-3 July 2019. They contribute ideas for solving complex challenges within and outside their core areas, together with leaders from government, business, civil society and other stakeholder groups during the sessions and workshops.
