Research Associate in Inorganic Materials Chemistry (fixed-term)

Following the award of an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership grant to Pragmatic Semiconductor and the Universities of Bath (Johnson: Chemistry) Liverpool (Chalker: Materials) and Cambridge (Flewitt: Engineering) which harnesses world-leading expertise in design, development, and fabrication of the next generation of electronics in the UK, a Postdoctoral Research associate position is available for an outstanding chemist/materials scientist to undertake research in the field of precursor design and thin film development.

This is a fixed-term position until 2028. 

About the role:

High-performance flexible electronics are set to revolutionise society by providing cost-effective routes to sustainable, low power electronics, compatible with plastics, textiles, and paper substrates. The Partnership provides a concerted and cohesive research program, designed to provide a sustainable “off-the-shelf” thin-film semiconductor technology that can be readily integrated into the production line of flexible electronics, enabling the creation of a sustainable Internet of Everything.

The position will entail the design, synthesis, assessment, and development of new organometallic/coordination complexes/precursors, for application in the fabrication of p-type flexible thin film transistor technology.

About you:

The ideal candidate will have, or should be close to completing, a PhD or equivalent, in either synthetic organometallic/coordination chemistry or deposition and characterisation of ultra-thin film materials (ideally using a chemical vapour-based approach such as CVD, MOCVD or ALD). 

Applicants with a background in synthetic organometallic/coordination chemistry, expertise in the synthesis and structural characterization of air-sensitive compounds (including glove-box techniques) are desirable. Experience in experimental aspects of small-molecule structure determination e.g., X-ray crystallography, and solution-phase NMR spectroscopy is advantageous, as is experience of ligand synthesis. The successful applicant should also demonstrate a willingness to learn about thin film materials specifically atomic layer deposition (ALD), semiconductor technologies and associated thin film characterisation and analysis techniques.

For those applicants with a background in deposition and characterisation of ultra-thin film materials, expertise in ALD is highly desirable. The successful applicant would be expected to have experience relating to the deposition and characterisation of ultra-thin film materials as well as some experience in precursor development and synthesis (ideally including skills in handling and/or synthesising air-sensitive chemicals). 

This post aims to provide the postdoctoral researcher with training and experience in fundamental research and problem focussed application development. In addition to developing the candidate’s technical skills, there will be opportunities to develop leadership skills. The post holder will take a leading role in the delivery of this project, leading a small team of postgraduate students, and more broadly work alongside scientists at PragmatIC Semiconductor LtD, as well teams based in Liverpool and Cambridge. The successful applicant should therefore be capable of working under their own initiative and possess excellent communication and organizational skills.

For recent publications in this area see: DOI: 10.1002/admi.202101278, DOI: 10.1039/D3TC00255A and DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19989-6

About us:

The Department of Chemistry is internationally renowned, with 98% of our research rated at either world-leading or internationally excellent in the most recent REF exercise. We offer a well-equipped and supportive department that provides an excellent environment for teaching, learning, and research.

The Department of Chemistry is strongly committed to promoting equality and diversity, including the Athena SWAN Charter for gender equality in higher education.  The Department of Chemistry holds a Silver Award, which recognises their good practice in relation to gender; including flexible working arrangements, family-friendly policies, and support to allow staff to achieve a good work-life balance.  

We particularly welcome applications from women for this post, who are currently under-represented at this grade. Appointment will always be made on merit.  

For further information, please visit: https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/equality-diversity-and-your-career/

What we can offer you:

We aim to be an inclusive university, where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award . We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on our teams. 

We are very proud to be an autism friendly university and are an accredited Disability Confident Leader; committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff .

Find out from our staff what makes the University of Bath a great place to work. Follow us @UniofBath and @UniofBathJobs on Twitter for more information.

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We are constantly seeking to reduce the unconscious bias that enters any assessment process, with the goal of creating an inclusive and equal assessment process. To support this, personal details will be removed from application forms at the initial shortlisting stage.