MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Applied Physics.

Dr. Alessandro Patti, from the Department of  Applied Physics at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2024 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2024 call, please consult this link.

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 56,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and more than 6,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 164 master’s degrees (8 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the the institution’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2023 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the 1-2 highest ranked University in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0dwJ), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp), the UGR is outstanding in Food Science & Technology (ranked in the 48th position in the world), Hospitality & Tourism Management (ranked between 51th-75th position), and in the areas of Mathematics and Library & Information Science, both of them ranked between 76th-100th position. A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in the areas of Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering and Nursing, in which the UGR is positioned at the rank in the 101-150th position. Finally, Dentistry & Oral Sciences is positioned between 151-200th position.

Additionally, the UGR counts with 9 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list, most of them related to the Computer Science scientific area. It is also well recognised for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 76th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total of 121 projects with a total funding of around €29,4 million. For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 74 projects, so far, with a total funding of almost €20 million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

The Biocolloid and Fluid Physics group is an internationally recognized group composed by physicists, chemists, biologists, biochemists, engineers and external collaborators. Our group is actively involved in multidisciplinary basic and applied research in Colloid and Interface Science. We study directed assembly of nanoparticles on surfaces by convective/capillary deposition, biomimetic hydroxyapatite coatings, food emulsions, drug/gene delivery, magnetorheology, synthesis of nanoparticles and colloidal structures. These areas are investigated experimentally (contact angle and surface tension measurements, Photon Correlation Spectroscopy, Tribometry, Rheometry, Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, Electrophoresis, Langmuir balance), but we also have expertise in theory (Gradient theory, DFT) and simulation (Brownian dynamics, Molecular Dynamics, Monte Carlo techniques, Stochastic Rotation Dynamics). In particular, we apply numerical simulation across a spectrum of time and length scales, spanning molecular to colloidal systems, and employ atomistic as well as coarse-grained models. One of the most outstanding features of our group is the close and long-standing collaboration with industry.

Project description:

Electrorheological (ER) fluids consist of dielectric nanoparticles (NPs) suspended in an electrically insulating medium whose dielectric constant differs from that of the NPs. This dielectric-constant mismatch ensures NP polarisation upon application of an electric field, which induces the formation of chain-like structures of variable length. This reversible isotropic-to-stringlike phase switching is accompanied by a change in physical properties, leading to a completely new material. Due to their relatively simple manufacturing, high responsiveness to external stimuli and reversible recovery, these smart responsive colloids are especially suitable in the automotive industry, robotics and generally in all applications where an abrupt change in rheology is required. The effect of external fields on suspensions of spherical NPs has been extensively investigated by experiments and simulations. Due to recent advances in the synthesis of anisotropic NPs, electrorheology has been extended to more exotic shapes. Sphere/rod mixtures, for instance, couple the high responsiveness of spheres, which do not need to reorient to form strings, to the enhanced ER effect provided by rods, which are slower, but offer larger resistance to flow. As such, controlling the response kinetics and strength of the ER effect can be achieved by tuning the relative concentration of the two species and intensity of the applied field. It is this intriguing scenario, leading to smart nanomateirals with tunable viscoelasticity and enhanced applicability, that motivates our interest in ER fluids. By molecular simulation, the aim of this research is investigating the response kinetics of ER fluids of anisotropic particles and the impact of field-driven strings on the resulting rheology of the material.

Research Area:

☒ Physics (PHY)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Dr. Alessandro Patti (apatti@ugr.es): 

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)