1. Are you eager to work on cross-disciplinary challenges?
2. Are you passionate about your research and keen to interact with others?
3. Are you inspired by nature's ingenuity in material design?
4. Are you our next Assistant Professor in Soft Matter?
5. Would you love the opportunity to set up your own, independent research line and team within a dynamic, collaborative and ambitious academic research environment?

Job Description

TU Eindhoven (TU/e) is a mid-size technical university located in the heart of the high-tech industry in the Netherlands. The Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems at TU/e are ambitious and inclusive academic centers renowned for their top research and education in areas such as Soft Matter, Polymer Science, Supramolecular Chemistry, Functional Materials, (Bio)nanotechnology, Protein Engineering and Biomaterials. Our researchers develop fundamental insights to engineer next-generation adaptive materials to address societal challenges in areas such as sustainability, health, and energy. The department invites applications for a new faculty position in the following area:

Experimental Soft Matter. The solutions to the major societal challenges that we face require highly sophisticated, adaptive materials, custom-tailored in composition and in structure, which can be reconfigured for optimal performance and recycling. Soft matter science is ideally positioned to address the fascinating fundamental research questions related to this radial transformation as soft matter is intrinsically adaptive, due to the weak and often tunable physical interactions between the constituent building blocks. The assistant professor will contribute to current research activities within the self-organizing soft matter laboratory and develop a curiosity-driven, highly original, challenging research direction aligned with and complementary to existing expertise in the group. For example, on functional reaction-assembly networks with (bio)chemical feedback or on adaptive soft, lifelike (bio)synthetic materials and the quantitative, spatiotemporal characterization of their hierarchical organization, formation, interactions, dynamics and function. The position will be embedded in an interdisciplinary team of highly qualified researchers studying self-assembly processes in (biological) soft matter aiming to advance our mechanistic understanding and establish guiding principles towards the rational design of novel (bioinspired) soft materials.

Do you want to work together in a research unit, in an open-atmosphere department, and set up and expand your own, independent research line and team? Then apply now!

You will be offered the opportunity to establish an independent, largely externally funded research program in collaboration with colleagues at our department and at national and international institutions. Substantial starting packages to kick-off your career in our department are available.

We encourage you to apply if you have a PhD degree and at least two years of postdoctoral experience.

• PhD in soft matter research, or a comparable domain.
• Ability to conduct high quality academic research, demonstrated for instance by a relevant PhD thesis and publication(s).
• Ability to teach, shown by experience or assistance in teaching and positive evaluations of these teaching efforts.
• Creative and dedicated to (multidisciplinary) collaboration.
• Good communication and leadership skills.       
• Excellent proficiency (written and oral) in English.

• In order to empower you, we provide support such as training programs for academic leadership and the university teaching qualification and a dedicated mentoring program to help you get to know the university and the Dutch (research) environment
• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university with the autonomy to develop your own research line and participate in the curriculum of the department.
• A Tenure Track of five years with the prospect of becoming an Associate Professor. After a maximum of four years, the tenure decision will be made. If you have a more senior profile, you will receive a tailor-made career proposal
• Female candidates are eligible for the Irène Curie Fellowship comprising a substantial start-up package to kick-off your career
• Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
• A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
• Flexible work schedules can be arranged.
• Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as the Dual Career Opportunity program to support accompanying partners, an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children daycare and sports facilities.