The FELIX Laboratory at Radboud University is seeking a PhD candidate with a background in chemistry or physics to work for the Bootcrop consortium. The goal of the PhD project is to identify the structure of plant-own molecules using several analytical tools including the FELIX free electron lasers.
As a PhD candidate you will carry out academic research under professorial supervision. You will validate the developed protocols, methods and findings in separate articles to be published during the course of your PhD. You will be part of an international research team.

The Boostcrop consortium with researchers from the FELIX Laboratory (Radboud University), the University of Amsterdam and other European partners will join forces in a European 'Future and Emerging Technologies' programme. Boostcrop aims to increase yields in agriculture and horticulture with a new approach based on the development and application of molecular temperature controllers. The research consortium comprises disciplines as diverse as horticultural sciences, toxicology, and analytical, physical and computational chemistry.
The Boostcrop consortium will develop what are known as molecular temperature controllers that can improve the germination and growth processes of plants. These molecules prevent cold stress, and the idea is to eventually process them in a spray to improve crop growth at low temperatures. To prevent toxicity and environmental problems, the researchers apply plant-own molecules.

• MSc degree in chemistry (physical, analytical) or physics (experimental, molecular);
• experience with experimental laboratory work, particularly in mass spectrometry and/or spectroscopy;
• fluency in English;
• team player;
• some teaching duties.

• employment: 0.8 - 1.0 FTE
• the gross starting salary amounts to €2,325 per month, and will increase to €2,972 in the fourth year
• in addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• duration of the contract: 4 years
• your performance will be evaluated after 18 months. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years
• you will be classified as a PhD Candidate (promovendus) in the Dutch university job-ranking system (UFO);
• you will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service where our Dual Career Officer will assist with family related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation

Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?

Faculty of Science
The FELIX Laboratory is an international large-scale research infrastructure on the campus of Radboud University and is jointly run by RU and NWO. The FELIX Laboratory has 3 research groups:
1) FELIX Infrared and THz Spectroscopy, 2) Condensed Matter Physics and 3) Molecular Structure and Dynamics.
The Molecular Structure and Dynamics group at the FELIX Laboratory at Radboud University has developed methods to record IR spectra of molecules isolated from complex mixtures in a mass spectrometer. The combined MS and IR data is used for molecular structure identification, often through comparison with quantum-chemically predicted IR spectra and dynamics.

These methods will be deployed to investigate the possible reaction products formed from the molecular temperature controllers when exposed to crop, soil and environmental conditions. This study will cover the full range from fundamental physical chemistry (dissociation chemistry in the MS) to practical analytical aspects (analysis of treated plant material), with the aim to fully characterise all derivatives possibly formed from the targeted molecular compounds.
 
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