PhD Studentship: Biomimetic Foldamers as a New Class of Sustainable Catalysts

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; Presencial; GBP 17 000 - 19 000; Tempo integral

Vantagens oferecidas por esta oferta de emprego

Fully funded PhD

Resumo da oferta

The University of Birmingham’s Department of Chemistry invites applications for a funded PhD studentship to investigate foldamers as sustainable catalysts. The project combines organic synthesis, analytical studies and computational analysis to generate foldamers and assess their performance in green chemistry.

Supervised by Drs. Pike and Michalchuk, the research will advance bio- and environmentally-friendly catalysis, with Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership CDT funding.

Qualificações

• First class degree in chemistry.
• Commitment to research in organic synthesis and catalysis.
• Ability to work under supervision.

Responsabilidades

• Conduct organic synthesis and analytical studies including computational analysis to generate foldamers and assess their performance as sustainable catalysts.
• Work under the supervision of Drs. Pike and Michalchuk in the Department of Chemistry.
• Contribute to green synthesis and catalysis in a bio- and environmentally-friendly context.

Conhecimentos

Organic synthesis

Analytical methods

Computational analysis

Formação académica

First class degree in chemistry

Descrição da oferta de emprego

Foldamers are synthetic oligomers that adopt stable conformations bio-inspired (e.g., helices) but their solid forms have recently been shown to have functional applications in materials science, supramolecular chemistry and biological chemistry. Foldamers possess excellent bio- and environmental-compatibility and, due to their modular system design, have highly tuneable molecular properties. Importantly, we have shown that the compressibility and molecular dipole of foldamers can be readily and widely tuned. Hence, given their bio- and environmental-compatibility and highly tuneable nature, this makes biomimetic foldamers ideal candidates in the search for new sustainable catalysts.

Objective

This project will establish foldamers as a new class of bio- and environmentally-compatible sustainable catalysts, which are highly tuneable for use in green synthesis of functional organic molecules.

Methodology

The project requires a combination of organic chemistry synthesis and advanced analytical study including computational analysis to generate the novel foldamers and to assess their performance as sustainable catalysts. This work will be carried out under the supervision of Drs. Pike and Michalchuk in the Department of Chemistry.

The project will be supervised by Dr Sarah Pike and Dr Adam Michalchuk.

Deadline for applications

23rd November 2026

Funding notes

This PhD studentship is fully funded through the Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership CDT.

You will need a 1st class degree in chemistry

References

• I. Saraogi et al., Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 1726.
• A. D. Peters et al., Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 7023.
• K. Kubota et al., Belstein J. Org. Chem., 2022, 18, 855.