Introduction to the vacant position:

The Quasi-Living Materials Research Group is looking for an outstanding polymer chemist or organic chemist to join as a PhD student. The contract will be within the framework of the Project PhagoSynCell (ERC Consolidator Grant), in which our ambition is to create synthetic cells capable of performing a rudimentary form of artificial phagocytosis. We intend to use them as a new class of antimicrobials against antibiotic-resistant pathogens, one of the biggest challenges of contemporary medicine. We are looking for a future independent scientist who will take ownership of a research question.

The PhD project: "Design of super predatory vesicles"
In the context of the ERC PhagoSynCell we are developing vesicles capable of capturing, engulfing and killing bacteria. These vesicles are built from supramolecular amphiphilic comb polymers (iCPs, 10.1002/advs.202200617 and 10.1002/advs.202411497) that self-assemble in water into vesicles, termed combisomes. This PhD project sits at the interface between polymer synthesis and soft matter:



it will focus on the design and synthesis of novel iCPs and on understanding how their molecular architecture governs self-assembly, membrane properties and function. The objectives are to: (1) increase combisome stability in biological media, (2) maximize engulfment of pathogens in biological media, and (3) unravel the underlying molecular design rules.

Main tasks and responsibilities:

• Design and synthesize libraries of comb polymers (covalent and supramolecular) using organic synthesis and controlled radical polymerization, guided by molecular and self-assembly simulations. Polymerizations will be carried out with suitable reversible deactivation radical polymerization techniques.
• Combine microscopy, microfluidics, and physicochemical/biophysical tools to study self-assembly and membrane properties, and to dissect how molecular structure, topology and architecture encode vesicle properties.
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📌 PhD student position (Barcelona)
🏢 Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
📍 Barcelona