The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.
The University is dedicated to supporting an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment – to create better futures, together. The diverse backgrounds, characteristics and opinions within our community are our great strength and are key to our pursuit of delivering educational excellence, enterprise, research and professional services. We welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds and minoritized groups as they are currently under-represented within our community.
We recognise the value of a fulfilling and balanced work and personal life which promotes wellbeing. We seek to support colleagues in achieving this balance and have family-friendly policies, flexible working arrangements and many roles can be suitable for dynamic working arrangement. This includes considering applications to work on a part-time, flexible and job share basis wherever possible.
Loughborough University is a UKVI Sponsor. Some individuals may require sponsorship to enable them to apply for a visa to provide them with the right to work in the UK. Please note certain roles are not eligible for sponsorship. For further information and eligibility please visit the UKVI website.
We invite applications for a 36-month postdoctoral research associate position in organic synthesis and supramolecular chemistry. This multi-disciplinary EPSRC project, led by Dr. Stephen Butler at Loughborough University, aims to synthesise macrocyclic luminescent probes to detect specific analytes in vapour and liquid.
The successful candidate will join a collaborative team with expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, photophysical analysis, polymer chemistry, optical engineering, and data science. The primary objective is to develop a portable luminescent sensing device to identify and locate specific chemicals. This breakthrough technology will enable security and defence organisations to quickly and safely identify the nature and spatial distribution of target chemicals, facilitating faster decision-making and response measures.
Building on our recent development of analyte-responsive luminescent lanthanide probes, the project aims to:
The position is ideally suited for an ambitious early career researcher with a strong background in multi-step organic synthesis. You will be proficient in the accurate characterisation of organic molecules and comfortable in the safe handling of reactive species and hazardous materials. Experience in photophysical analyses and supramolecular techniques (e.g. spectroscopic host-guest titrations) is advantageous. The successful candidate will be motivated to advance fundamental supramolecular chemistry research and collaborate with a skilled team to translate chemical probes into real-world sensing applications for environmental, security and defence sectors.
This is a full-time 36-month position to commence on or after 7th October 2024.
For relevant publications please see: Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 4979–4985; Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 284–287; Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 3386–3394.
More information about the Butler Group can be found here: https://butler-researchgroup.wixsite.com/welcome
For further details contact Dr Stephen Butler at s.j.butler@lboro.ac.uk
For more information refer to the Job Description and Person Specification.