THREADMILL

London - Mons - Strasbourg - Oxford - Milan - Delft - Lodz - San Sebastian - Catania - Scriba Nanotecnologies Srl - BASF AG

THREADMILL is a new Marie Curie Research Training Network (RTN) devoted to cross-disciplinary training and research at the interface between Supramolecular Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Nanoscience. The overall goal is the generation of new knowledge underpinning the exploitation of supramolecular wires (namely conjugated polyrotaxanes) in the fabrication and investigation of prototypical systems, both at the level of single-molecule devices, and of large-area polymer applications (LEDs, PVDs, ultrafast photonic switches).

The overall training and research objectives of THREADMILL are:

1. Supramolecular synthesis. Engineering of van der Waals, ionic, and π-π stacking interactions, leading to prototypes of multifunctional nanowires.
2. Nanofabrication of electrodes nanostructures (metals and conductive plastics).
3. Self-organisation. Self-assembly of hybrid metallic-supramolecular architectures. Characterisation by scanning probes, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Time-of-flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS).
4. Applications I: single-molecule devices. Fabrication of organic nano-optoelectronic devices incorporating prototypes of supramolecular wires operating at surfaces.
5. Transport studies. Measurement of charge transport and mobility in organic semiconducting wires bonded between homogeneous/heterogeneous electrodes.
6. Ultrafast spectroscopy: evaluation of the TMWs potential for ultrafast switches. General photophysical characterisation of ultrafast processes.
7. Applications II: large area devices. optoelectronic devices incorporating large ensembles of the supramolecular wires. Target applications: LEDs and photovoltaic diodes.
8. Dissemination and strategic development

To achieve the objectives above we are currently aiming to recruit a pool of talented, energetic, strongly motivated, young scientists at both the Early Stage Researcher (ESR, i.e. pre-doctorate) and Experienced Researcher (ER, i.e. post-doc) level. Positions are intended primarily to encourage mobility of researchers among EU countries although a small number of appointments can be for ESRs or ERs from other countries. Women are especially encouraged to apply.

Each researcher will benefit from a wide ranging training programme that will take advantage of both "indoor" (i.e. at the principal host institution, for example taught courses for Masters or PhD students) and "outdoor" activities (i.e. at other nodes, or other events such as training schools, conferences, workshops etc.). Each researcher will have the opportunity to spend a significant secondment period (2 months or longer) at another node of the network to acquire familiarity with different techniques.

Details about the project and available positions can be found on the THREADMILL website. Positions available in our group through THREADMILL can be found on our vacancies page.