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.
-

📌 PhD student position (Barcelona)
🏢 Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
📍 Barcelona