PhD studentship in solid-state DNP/NMR - Lille, France

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PhD studentship in solid-state DNP/NMR - Lille, France

A three-years PhD position in solid-state DNP/NMR is available in the group of Prof. J.-P. Amoureux, University of Lille, Lille, France. It will start preferably in October 2010.

The project: The Ph.D. project aims to develop a new technique for the characterization of materials : the Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) for solid-state samples at high magnetic field. Recently the group of R. G. Griffin at MIT demonstrated that this technique is feasible at high magnetic field (9.4 T) and increases the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) by a factor of 100. Such a gain in sensitivity provided by DNP paves the way for new applications of solid-state NMR. The objectives of this Ph.D. are to study and show the potential of DNP for the characterization of important materials, such as heterogeneous catalysts used for the biofuel production. The Ph.D. will consist in preparing the catalyst samples containing paramagnetic agents, characterizing them by electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and NMR spectroscopies and performing DNP experiments for such materials. The project is a collaboration between the university of Lille and Bruker company.

Facilities: Facilities for solid-state NMR spectroscopy has five superconducting magnets, ranging from 900 MHz (proton Larmor frequency) to 100 MHz. Over 20 probes enable solid-state NMR to be performed with different rotor diameters, from 1.3 mm to 7 mm. The 1.3 mm rotor can rotate at up to 70 kHz. Lille is a pleasant city situated in the heart of Europe (30 min from Brussels, 1 h from Paris, 1h from London by train). The university of Lille combines research groups with strong expertise in NMR and EPR spectroscopy as well as catalysis and material science. In particular, it is the coordinator of European project for designing next-generation bio-refinery.

The person: We seek application from national and international students who have graduated in physics or chemistry, preferably with a background in NMR. The successful applicant will be given the opportunity to work in an exciting environment with national and international collaborations.

Remuneration: The studentship includes a stipend of 20 118 € per year with health insurance and language training allowance.

Contact: Applications and informal queries about the lab and research projects should be directed by email to Jean-Paul Amoureux or Olivier Lafon. Applications should include a cover letter, a CV and contact information for two references.
Department of chemical engineering
University of Lille
F-59652, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Cedex, France
Tel : 33 3 20 43 41 43 Fax : 33 3 20 43 68 14
email : jean-paul.amoureux@univ-lille1.fr

Dr. Olivier Lafon
Department of chemical engineering
University of Lille
F-59652, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Cedex, France
Tel : 33 3 20 43 41 43 Fax : 33 3 20 43 68 14
email : olivier.lafon@ensc-lille.fr
webpage adress : http://uccs.univ-lille1.fr/spip.php?article199.fr

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Dr Olivier Lafon
Unité de Catalyse et de Chimie du Solide (UCCS) - UMR CNRS 8181
Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Lille (ENSCL)
Cité scientifique, Bât. C7, B.P. 90108
F-59652, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Cedex, France


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