PhD student in Inorganic Chemistry

Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) position

The PhD position is one of the 15 Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) positions within the NanED (Electron Nanocrystallography) project funded by EU Innovative Training Network H2020-Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program (Grant agreement no. 956099). NanED aims to form a new generation of electron crystallographers, able to master and develop 3D ED techniques in an interdisciplinary and interconnected network, where competences and know-how of usually distant scientific sectors are shared and merged. NanED will also establish a new standard of crystallographic training, closer to current industrial needs. Finally, NanED will boost the dissemination of 3D ED in academic and industrial laboratories, pushing Europe to be the leader for nanomaterial characterisation and development, with a noticeable and global economic impact. More information about NanED can be found at https://naned.eu/ .

Project description 

Project title:  Development electron-based pair distribution function and its application on structural investigation of local disorders in functional materials.

Project leaders (PI): Ph.D Cheuk-Wai Tai (main supervisor) and Professor Xiaodong Zou (co-supervisor).

Dr. Tai’s research group develops new methods to enable high throughput and multidimensional experiments in electron microscopes, and is one of the leading groups in the development of electron-based pair distribution function (ePDF) analysis as well as 3D diffuse scattering. We aim to improve the acquisition and analysis of imaging, diffraction, spectroscopy data and chemical mapping. Our method has been used by many research groups to study catalysts, drugs carriers, microelectronics, metallic glass and low-dimensional nanostructured materials. We also carry out (S)TEM study of materials and devices with specific functionality, for example energy storage/conversion materials, catalysts, magnetic materials and hybrid materials.

The objectives of the PhD project are to establish protocols for acquisition and processing of ePDF data in order to enhance the robustness of the method, and to apply the methods to study the structural disorders/ defects in some selected functional materials, of which the structural detail cannot be clearly revealed by standard diffraction techniques. The candidate will be a member of multidisciplinary team working with physicists, chemists, materials scientists, crystallographers and electron microscopists with broad research background. The project will be carried out in close collaboration with other groups at SU and international partners. She/he will participate in various training programs organised by NanED to gain broad knowledge and competence in the field.

The candidate should have a strong collaborative and communication skill, be self-motivated and a good team player. The applicant should also have excellent skills in the English language, both written and spoken. Knowledge on crystallography, programming or TEM are desired but not necessary. The candidate should have a Master or equivalent degree in Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or Materials Sciences. For more information see Tai’s homepage: https://www.su.se/english/profiles/ctai .