PhD position Origin of Homochirality (1.0 FTE)

The University of Groningen is a research university, currently in or around the top 100 on several influential ranking lists. The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) is the largest faculty within the University, offering first-rate education and research in a wide range of science and engineering disciplines.

The mission of the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry is to perform excellent research and teaching in molecular and supramolecular chemistry. Core activities in the chemical sciences such as bioorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, molecular inorganic chemistry and molecular materials chemistry are embedded in the institute. The research programme is focused on synthesis, catalysis, functional materials, bio-organic chemistry/chemical biology and systems chemistry/complex molecular systems.

The research program of the Feringa group is focused on synthetic and physical organic chemistry. Inspired by Nature's principles of molecular assembly, recognition, transport, motion and catalysis, the goal is to exploit the full potential of synthetic chemistry to create new structures and functions. A major part of the research is directed towards dynamic molecular systems. The focus is on molecular nanoscience, novel responsive materials and photo-pharma exploring biohybrid systems, self-assembly, molecular switches and motors. A second part of the program deals with the development (and application in chemical biology) of novel stereoselective synthesis methods and asymmetric catalysis. Chirality is a leading theme and over the years a unique and broad expertise in fundamental aspects of stereochemistry has been acquired including chiroptical phenomena, chiral amplification and origin of chirality.

“Chiral symmetry breaking to generate a tiny bias of enriched molecules exploring physical and chemical methods”

The origin of life ranks arguably among the most important fundamental scientific problems and the understanding how prebiotics living systems might have emerged from simple molecules will have major impact on the elucidation of the complex (bio-) molecular machinery of the cell (and impact other scientific fields from philosophy to astrobiology). One of the key features of life is the presence of its essential molecules such as amino acids, proteins, sugars and DNA as one mirror image form. Homochirality is an intrinsic property of life, essential for e.g. molecular recognition and information processing, enzyme functioning and cell replication. However, the origin of biomolecular homochirality is one of our great mysteries.

The essential fundamental scientific questions are:

Based on our long-standing and pioneering research on chirality we plan to address these two fundamental questions.

Photochemistry with circular polarized light will be studied on model compounds to either accomplish i) deracemization or ii) perform photochemical synthesis of chiral compounds. Circular polarized light (CPL, the light used for irradiation has either left-or right- handedness) is considered highly relevant from a prebiotic perspective (strong exposure of molecules to intense irradiation and abundantly present in outer space). CPL will be used to shift the 50:50 equilibrium (deracemization) of amino acid precursor molecules based on our discovery of chiroptical switches using CPL irradiation. We will explore photoredox catalysis using CPL for the synthesis of chiral amino acids, sugars and acids. Photoredox catalysis is a rapidly emerging field of chemical science providing unprecedented reactivity and the use of CPL for photochemical synthesis is unprecedented. Alternatively, the use of magnetic fields in radical coupling reactions offers an exciting opportunity to create a small chiral bias taking advantage of the recently discovered CISS effect leading to chiral spin control chemical radicals. A radical basis for biomolecular homochirality based on the earth's magnetic field is a daring scenario.

We are looking for candidates who meet the following requirements:

Experience in synthetic organic chemistry, catalysis and/or photochemistry is a plus.

Applicants whose first language is not English must submit evidence of competency in English, please see University of Groningen's English Language Requirements for details.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

The starting date is flexible

Do you meet our qualification criteria? If yes, you're requested to upload the following documents:

You may apply for this position until 12 February 11:59pm / before 13 February 2023 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https: // www. rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and- strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https: // www. nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https: // euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

We provide career services for partners of new faculty members moving to Groningen.

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

For information you can contact:

Please do not use the e-mail address(es) above for applications.