chemical reactions | Scholarship for Nigerians and Africans

9 PhD Studentships in Dynamic Molecular Nanostructures, University of Cambridge, UK

Nine Early Stage Researcher (ESR) positions are offered in the FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) DYNAMOL – Dynamic Molecular Structures. The DYNAMOL ITN is a research-training European network involving institutions across Europe (9 from the academic sector and 2 from the private sector) which aims to train a new generation of highly skilled chemists in dynamic covalent chemistry and push this emerging field of research into applications at the cutting-edge of nanotechnology. Expertise of all partners encompasses the general areas of supramolecular chemistry and dynamic covalent chemistry, but individual research competences are quite diverse focussing on molecularly defined nanostructures, analysis of nanostructures, and novel applications.
The ITN DYNAMOL will establish a powerful new approach for the preparation of nanostructures based on dynamic covalent chemistry. Dynamic covalent chemistry combines the advantages of covalent synthesis (robustness of the bonds) with those of non-covalent synthesis (error correction, responsiveness) without any of the disadvantages (lability in the case of non-covalent chemistry and synthetic difficulty in accessing large structures through traditional covalent synthesis). This method therefore has the potential to provide unique solutions for several important challenges in the preparation of molecular nanostructures that still need to be addressed, such as the creation of low symmetry nano-sized assemblies and molecular nanostructures with specific functions or the use of orthogonal chemical reactions to increase structural complexity. The training program aims to improve theoretical, practical and complementary skills of the recruited ESRs. To this end, it includes state-of-the-art local training activities and network-wide courses and workshops as well as secondments in partner laboratories.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 30 April 2011

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