10 positions for Doctoral Candidates available - Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network "CISSE" (Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity Effect)

The CISSE Doctoral Network is happy to advertise 10 positions for Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in several organisations across Europe and in Israel, all members of the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Doctoral Network entitled "Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity Effect".

The CISSE consortium members carry out research at the forefront of a number of interlinked theoretical and experimental disciplines involving: molecular design, synthetic chemistry, organic materials, nanoscience, electrochemistry, chirality, surface chemistry, industrial scale up, development of analytical methods and instrumentation. 

CISSE offers a training programme in which theoreticians, spectroscopists, synthetic chemists, physicists, & industrialists will work on the complex and unsolved questions related to chirality and spin. CISSE gathers an interdisciplinary network of experts, from 6 universities and 2 industrial organisations, who will deliver a high-level doctoral education to 10 DCs. 6 associated partners (4 academics, 1 non-profit cultural organization and 1 private company) will complete their scientific and managerial training. CISSE will educate DCs as professional scientists, but also as innovators and future leaders. The intensive training programme that takes advantage of secondments (2 per candidate) offers DCs the unique opportunity to carry research at the forefront of science.

The scientific objective of CISSE is to make a giant leap forward into the knowledge and understanding of the intriguing CISS effect. This entails a list of well-defined goals namely to:

• elucidate the link between molecular structure and spin polarization,
• use spin polarization to trigger and direct CSB at nano and macro scales,
• explore the asymmetric synthesis using the CISS effect in (photo)redox reactions,
• assess the use of CISS effect in multistep syntheses of industrially-relevant molecules,
• quantify the role of spin-polarization in the intermolecular interactions of biomolecules and to measure energy scale in bio recognition process,
• understand the role of exchange interactions in CISS effect,
• develop analytical methods and instruments to detect spectral signature of CISS effect.

The CISSE consortium includes the following 14 participants:

1. UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES (ULB)
2. KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN (KUL)
3. WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE (WIS)
4. THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM (HUJI)
5. TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT EINDHOVEN (TUE)
6. UNIVERSITAET HAMBURG (UHAM)
7. SYMERES NETHERLANDS BV (SYMERES)
8. JASCO EUROPE SRL (JASCO)
9. ARTTIC (ARTTIC)
10. UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH (UPIT)
11. INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AUSTRIA (ISTA)
12. WESTFAELISCHE WILHELMS-UNIVERSITAET MUENSTER (WWU)
13. UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI BRESCIA (UNIBS)
14. OHME ASBL (OHME)

The 14 partners conduct cutting-edge research in their sub-disciplines and are used to train DCs. The research complementarities between partners are multiple and are explained as it follows:

ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY. 2 beneficiaries (SYMERES & JASCO) conduct applied research, protect and valorise IPR into business. The 6 academic beneficiaries are reputed for their fundamental research and scientific breakthroughs. WIS and HUJI are rather unique for their ability to turn research outputs into business. This academic and industrial duality is evidently at the heart of the cross-sectoral research and training programme.

EUROPE AND MIDDLE-EAST. 6 beneficiaries are from Europe and share a European culture that manifests itself in the way they conduct research and they do business. WIS and HUJI are located in Israel and brings a radically different cultural approach blended in a tradition of scientific excellence.

THEORY AND EXPERIMENTS. UHAM and ISTA do quantum calculations. ULB, KUL, WIS, UPIT, HUJI, TUE, SYMERES, JASCO, UNIBS and WWU develop experimental approaches covering a large set of expertise: molecular design, multistep synthesis, electrochemistry, nanoscience, industrial scale up of chemical processes, development of analytical equipment, chiroptical methods and spectroscopy.

INNOVATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY STUDIES. Missing molecular structures will be synthesized and made available to study CISS effect thanks to physical and electrochemical experiments. Spin polarization will be used for obtaining enantiomeric excess in chemical reactions and separation processes. A large set of experimental conditions will be varied with the aim to bring missing parts of fundamental knowledge CISS effect.

CISSE has been designed to offer comprehensive training offering scientific knowledge, as well as the complementary technical and research skills. The various profile of the partners will naturally lead them to deliver different training in transferable skills. ARTTIC and OHME will train DCs respectively in the field of project management and art-science creation.

OVERVIEW OF THE CISSE DOCTORAL POSITIONS:

• DC1 vacancy - Project title: “Novel molecular systems for high CISS effect” (hired by ULB / degree delivered by ULB)
• DC2 vacancy - Project title: “Enantioselective preferential physisorption, chemisorption, and dimerization at spin-polarized interfaces” (hired by ULB / degree delivered by ULB)
• DC3 vacancy - Project title: “Visualisation of the impact of spin-polarized surfaces on (supra)molecular physisorption and chemisorption at the nanoscale” (hired by KUL / degree delivered by KUL)
• DC4 vacancy - Project title: “Elucidation of spin-controlled bio-related interactions” (hired by WIS / degree delivered by WIS)
• DC5 vacancy - Project title: “Direct measurement of the spin exchange interactions using chiral AFM” (hired by HUJI / degree delivered by HUJI)
• DC6 vacancy - Project title: “Chiral electrodes for asymmetric electrochemistry” (hired by TUE / degree delivered by TUE)
• DC7 vacancy - Project title: “Photo-switching helical materials for chirality-based magnetic memory device” (hired by TUE / degree delivered by TUE)
• DC8 vacancy - Project title: "First-principles approach to exchange effects in CISS" (hired by UHAM / degree delivered by UHAM)
• DC9 vacancy - Project title: “Spin-induced asymmetric synthesis of chiral scaffolds” (hired by SYMERES / degree delivered by TUE)
• DC10 vacancy - Project title: “Evaluation of CISS effect on chiroptical response and for chromatographic separation” (hired by JASCO / degree delivered by UNIBS)

Full details about the above positions (supervisors, objectives, expected results, secondments, profile of candidates and benefits) are listed in the CISSE recruitment leaflet. The leaflet also includes a section "Recruitment Process" which lists the eligibility criteria, the benefits, and the content of the application file.

To download the CISSE recruitment leaflet and take note of the recruitment process, please visit www.cisse-msca.eu