Job Title:  Research Associate in Surface-Initiated Polymerisation

School/Department: Mathematical & Physical Sciences (University of Sheffield)

Work Arrangement: Full Time (Hybrid)

Contract Type: Fixed-term

Salary per annum (£): £38,784.00

Job ID 1453: Closing Date: 06/11/2025

 

We have an opening for a polymer chemist to work within a team of 13 researchers spread across the Universities of Sheffield and Bristol working on a £7.3 M collaborative project funded by EPSRC and led by Prof Graham Leggett.

 

The aim of our five-year programme is to develop a new modular approach to the creation of photonic materials, inspired by structures found in biological photosynthetic membranes.

 

Your role, based in Sheffield and working with Prof Steve Armes FRS and Prof Graham Leggett, will be to design synthetic pigment-polymer antenna complexes for incorporation into molecular photonic breadboards, and to work collaboratively with other team members to explore their photophysical properties. Synthetic polymer scaffolds will be grown using surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerisation (SI-ATRP) and used to organise chromophores in 3D. You will develop solution-processing routes for the production of quantum optical materials, and design sensors for use in early detection of cancer that utilise strong light-matter coupling.

 

Educated to PhD level in chemistry, physics or materials science (or equivalent experience), you will have experience of surface-initiated polymerisation, preferably SI-ATRP, including familiarity with methods for the characterisation of polymer brushes. A passion for working as a member of a team is essential.

​

Please use the links above and below for more information and to apply, or alterntively visit: https://jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk and search using the Job ID number: 1453. 

​​

Job ID 1453: Closing Date: 06/11/2025