PDRA in Boron Chemistry applied to Organic Materials

Full-Time: 35 hours per week.

Fixed Term: For 24 months. (Start Date 1st November 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter).

The Opportunity:

A postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) position is available starting 1st November 2024 (or as soon as possible thereafter) This is a 24 month position subject to successful completion of a 12 months probation period. The PDRA will be supervised by Prof. Michael Ingleson (MI) and is based in the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. 

The PDRA will work as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team on the EPSRC Programme Grant “Boron: Beyond the Reagent”. This is a large collaborative grant with a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of St Andrews, and the University of Manchester. This specific position is expected to involve close interactions with Prof. Neil McKeown / Prof. Eli Zysman-Colman and fits within the Functional Organic Materials Work Package of the Organoboron Programme Grant.

Borylated compounds are of fundamental importance across the chemical industry and increasingly important within the biological sciences. These molecules underpin the most widely used transformations in synthetic chemistry (on small and large scale), are integral to some of the most widely used imaging agents, and emerging as key warheads in contemporary drug design. Yet due to a lack of fundamental understanding, predictability, and control, few reaction classes are used widely in synthetic chemistry, only one primary class of fluorophore is used, and they remain underexplored in functional materials.

The primary objective of this Programme Grant is to initiate a transformative new phase of boron research to enable multi-scale applications across chemical, materials, and biological sciences, and thereby provide a gateway to future technologies.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a large cross-disciplinary collaboration. Co-workers will be part of a network of PDRAs and PhD students, supported by a team of nine academics and colleagues from across the chemical industry (including pharma, agrochemical, and materials industries). 

Applicants must hold a PhD in Chemistry in an area related to the themes described above (or be close to completion at the time of application). You will be expected to manage your own academic research and administrative activities, and contribute to the operation of the Programme Grant team. This will involve small-scale project management, to coordinate multiple aspects of work for presentations, publications, and deadlines. You will test hypotheses and analyse scientific data from a variety of sources and from across the team, reviewing and refining working hypotheses as required to meet the objectives of the various work packages.

For informal enquires please contact: Michael Ingleson at mingleso@ed.ac.uk 

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Expertise in organoboron chemistry.
• Experience in air sensitive chemistry.
• Deep knowledge of organic materials.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills.

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