Job offer

European Commission; España; Presencial; EUR 30.000 - 50.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

The European Commission, through the CATALOOP doctoral network, invites applications for a Doctoral Candidate position at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. This 3-year position focuses on data-driven approaches in stereoselective catalysis. Candidates will work in an international setting, receiving competitive salaries and allowances. The role requires a Master's degree in Chemistry and relevant skills in organic chemistry research for an exciting academic career.

Servicios

Competitive salary package

Mobility and family allowances

International research team

Formación

• Master's degree or equivalent in Chemistry or related field.
• Background in Organic or Organometallic chemistry.
• Good knowledge of English.

Responsabilidades

• Conduct research on stereoselective catalysis.
• Enroll in the doctoral program at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
• Collaborate with international research teams.

Conocimientos

Organic chemistry

NMR methods

Synthesis under inert gas

Quantum chemical calculations

English language

International experience

Educación

Master Degree in Chemistry

Descripción del empleo

Organisation/Company Autonomous University of Madrid (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) Department Organic Chemistry Research Field Chemistry » Organic chemistry Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Country Spain Application Deadline 30 Jul 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37,5 Offer Starting Date 1 Oct 2025 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Reference Number HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01 Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number 101168623 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The Department of Chemistry of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) offers within the European Commission Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Doctoral Network CATALOOP (Closing the Loop in stereoselective Catalysis by data-driven Approaches) one position (100%) for a Doctoral Candidate (DC). The position should start at 01.10.2025 for a period of three years until 30.09.2028.

The doctoral candidate will enrol in the doctoral student programme at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Objectives of the research network

The CATALOOP network aims at the development of powerful and readily applicable workflows for data-driven development of stereoselective catalysis. As a main training goal we want to educate researchers in comprehensive data-driven experimental approaches for realizing challenging asymmetric catalytic methods.

This network brings together academic research groups with expertise in experimental catalyst development with theoretical groups skilled in computational and data-driven chemistry in order to develop new catalytic asymmetric reactions. World-leading industrial partners with a wide range of interests will provide advice on which approaches may have the most impact on industry and will host the students in secondments. Students will be assigned experimental and theoretical supervisors and be trained to a minimum level of proficiency in both aspects. This envisaged combination of research and training will develop researchers with a unique skill set who are well suited to developing new enantioselective catalytic processes that are in high demand in academia and industry. The CATALOOP project offers the possibility to pursue the PhD within the Network at different universities/research centres/industrial companies from 7 European countries (Israel, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, England) Background information on all offered PhD positions is available on the web ( https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/cataloop/ )

CATALOOP has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2022 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Doctoral Networks (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN-01) scheme, grant agreement number: 101168623.

Project

The described open position has the topic “Elucidating the steric and electronic influence of phosphine ligands for the difunctionalization of strained alkenes” and is supervised by Prof. Mariola Tortosa. Strained bicyclic structures are witnessing increasing attention in drug discovery programs as they offer complementary tools to modulate physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of drug candidates. The stereoselective synthesis of these structures with control in the diastereo- and the enantioselectivity is still a difficult challenge. We plan to use an asymmetric metal-catalyzed desymmetrization strategy to prepare enantioenriched bicyclic compounds that could serve as potential bioiososteres of benzene rings. This project aims to explore the use of chiral phosphine ligands to optimize the regio-, diastereo- and enantioselectivity of the process through data-driven approaches.

Where to apply

E-mail [e-mail]

Requirements

Research Field Chemistry » Organic chemistry Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

• Background in the field of Organic and/or Organometallic chemistry.
• Experience in the analysis of organic compounds (especially NMR methods).
• Experience in synthetic molecular chemistry under inert gas is advantageous.
• Good knowledge of English.
• Experience with quantum chemical calculations is advantageous.
• Previous international experience is desirable.

Specific Requirements

Completed scientific university degree in the field of chemistry or comparable disciplines, which gives access to the corresponding qualification level.

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Research Field Chemistry » Organic chemistry

Additional Information

You will be part of an excellent international research team and benefit from the scientific and complementary training programme of the EU-funded Doctoral Network CATALOOP. We offer highly competitive and attractive salaries according to regulations of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, plus mobility and family allowances as applicable(100%, salary plus allowances package according to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – Doctoral Networks rules).

Eligibility criteria

• The candidates must not have lived in Spain for more than 12 months combined in the three years before October 2025 according to the mobility regulations of the doctoral network
• Candidates must not have obtained a PhD title elsewhere

Selection process

Your application should contain:

• letter of motivation

• research summary of past accomplishments

• transcripts of records from University/University College and copy of your degree

• one written recommendation letter (e.g. by your Master thesis supervisor) and the contact details of at least one more referee.

Submit your application electronically, as a single pdf file,to: [e-mail] until June 30th 2025. The positions will be filled as soon as a perfect candidate has been found.

Additional comments

For additional information about this research project and DC position, please contact:

For additional information about administrative aspects, please contact the network manager under [e-mail]