PhD Position: Ultrafast chiral spectroscopy for research in photochemistry

The Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Chiral Molecular Dynamics Laboratory led by Prof. Malte Oppermann studies the molecular transformations that drive biological and chemical processes on the nanoscale. To achieve this, our interdisciplinary research team develops innovative time-resolved spectroscopic tools that use polarization-controlled laser pulses to capture both electronic and structural changes in molecular systems on their natural time scales. We are looking for a creative and highly motivated doctoral student to join our team.

Laboratory website: https://oppermann.chemie.unibas.ch/en/

Project background
To capture molecular dynamics in real-time we need experimental techniques that offer both high structural and fast time resolution. However, achieving this in the native solution environment of most (bio-)chemical processes is especially challenging on time scales faster than the millisecond regime (10-3 seconds). Our team has recently developed a new approach to achieve this: we use broadband circularly polarized laser pulses to capture changes in the structural symmetry of molecules, called chirality, to resolve their structural dynamics with femtosecond time resolution [1]. This has opened the path to resolve the structural dynamics of (bio-)molecular systems [2] and to study the chirality of short lived electronic excited states for controlling photochemical processes [3]. To expand the scope of this research, we are now implementing an advanced ultrafast chiral spectroscopy platform at University of Basel, making use of the latest developments in ultrafast laser and photonic technology.

• [1] M. Oppermann, B. Bauer, T. Rossi, F. Zinna, J. Helbing, J. Lacour, and M. Chergui, Optica 6, 1, 56-60 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.6.000056
• [2] M. Oppermann, J. Spekowius, B. Bauer, R. Pfister, M. Chergui, and J. Helbing, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 10, 11, 2700-2705 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b01253
• [3] M. Oppermann, F. Zinna, J. Lacour, and M. Chergui, Nat. Chem. 14, 739-745 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-00933-0