Organisation/Company: CNRS
Department: Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay
Research Field: Physics
Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2)
Country: France
Application Deadline: 29 Nov 2024 - 23:59 (UTC)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Offer Starting Date: 1 Jan 2025
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description The hired person will contribute to the studies on vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy carried out at ISMO, in collaboration with the scientific partners of the ANR-funded DICHROSOL project (ICP Orsay, LIPhy Grenoble, PASTEUR ENS Paris) and the TU Berlin. The candidate will use newly-developed theoretical methods and/or participate in the development of theoretical methods for the interpretation of experimental spectra, in collaboration with the partners of the consortium. The work will mainly involve modellisation of the spectra, with the possibility of conducting some experimental measurements.
This subject belongs to the field of infrared spectroscopy, and more specifically its application to chiral molecules. It is based on vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), which is the very small difference in absorption by a chiral molecule between a right- and left-polarised circular light in the infrared (IR) range.
The study will combine different theoretical approaches to simulate IR absorption and VCD spectra in non-conventional solvents such as ionic liquids or deep eutectic solvents, after validation of the methods on crystalline solids. In particular, the non-locality in space of the VCD signal will be used to probe the symmetry of a crystal, the local organisation of a solvent (ionic liquid or deep eutectic solvent), solute-solvent interactions, with particular emphasis on the transfer of chirality between the solute and the solvent, and the selectivity of the interactions between a chiral solvent and the two enantiomers of a chiral solute. The data will be interpreted using simulations based on molecular dynamics (MD) or ab initio calculations. The experimental part, carried out in the host team, involves sample preparation and IR and VCD spectroscopy measurements in the near-IR region for a wide range of systems and under different temperature conditions.
The Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay (ISMO - UMR 8214) is a research unit associated with the CNRS and the Université Paris-Saclay, whose research focuses on three main scientific areas: molecular physics and its applications, nanosciences and physics for biology.
The hired candidate must hold a PhD in chemistry or physics. He or she should have a background in theoretical chemistry, experience in quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics, and be autonomous in these fields. Their application to vibrational spectroscopy is not mandatory but will be favourably considered. The candidate will demonstrate his/her motivation to work in an interdisciplinary (theory and experiment), collaborative (ANR project) and international (collaboration with the TU Berlin) context. Knowledge of French is optional, but fluency in either English or French is expected.
Contract funded by the French National Agency for Research (ANR)
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