Open positions

Interested in nanoscience research? Please remember to check this page where we regularly post job offers for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and senior scientists at the Adolphe Merkle Institute. Chemistry, materials science, analytics, physics, and biophysics are all at the core of our scientific projects. We offer a uniquely stimulating interdisciplinary research environment, state-of-the-art laboratories, excellent working conditions, competitive salaries, and outstanding career prospects. Our alumni regularly take up attractive positions in academia, public research organizations, and industry around the world.

  • Master's internship - sustainable packaging

    The project

    Recent awareness of the impact of petroleum-based materials on global warming has led to the development of a new range of bio-based and biodegradable materials. For several years, the packaging industry, which produces a wide range of petroleum-based products, has been slowly transitioning to greener alternatives. If bio-based and biodegradable alternatives exist, they face many challenges: limited strength, complex degradation processes, or controversial raw material sourcing. To replace petroleum-based packaging, sustainable alternatives must not only deliver high performance but also minimize their impact on the environment.
    This project addresses this challenge by developing a new range of bio-based and biodegradable materials with high water and gas barrier properties that are cost-efficient, biodegradable, and scalable in production. Using coffee by-products, we aim to engineer multilayer packaging with tunable barrier properties, adapted to a wide range of packaging applications.


    Your mission

    As an intern, you will contribute directly to the development of these innovative materials by extracting polysaccharides and bio-based polymers from coffee by-products. You will optimize the composition and architecture of multilayer packaging to meet the requirements of our local partners.


    Your profile

    You are an engineering or master’s student:
    - Holding a bachelor’s degree in Materials Sciences, Polymer Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or a related field.
    - Knowledge of polysaccharides and bio-based polymers, as well as methodologies to characterize mechanical and barrier properties, is a plus.
    - Interested in pursuing interdisciplinary research in a fast-moving international team.
    - With excellent communication skills and proficiency in English
    - Demonstrating autonomy, motivation, and initiative
    - Swiss or EU passport

    What we offer:
    - A 4-month paid internship (working time up to 80%), starting ASAP
    - With ands-on experience in sustainable materials research with real-world impact
    - In the Polymer Chemistry and Materials group of Prof. Christoph Weder
    - At the Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.


    To apply, please send your resume and a short cover letter to manon.guivier@unifr.ch

  • PhD position - Lipidic Lyotropic Liquid Crystals for Photonics

    The Adolphe Merkle Institute's Soft Matter Physics Group (Prof. Ullrich Steiner) is accepting applications for one PhD position in the "Lipidic Lyotropic Liquid Crystals for Photonics” project within Dr. Vogler’s Ambizione Fellowship and Bioinspired Photonics subgroup.

    The position:

    This position is part of an SNSF Ambizione project called “Structural Color, the Way Nature Creates It” and is fully funded for four years.

    About the project:

    Structural color is a specific type of color where the color is created by constructive interference from a nanostructure rather than by absorbing pigments. These colors are among the most dazzling in nature, as seen in the Morpho butterfly or in peacock feathers. The goal of this project is to understand how structural color is formed in butterflies and to fabricate it biomimetically. This PhD position focuses on understanding how periodicities in lipidic lyotropic liquid crystals can be boosted to the photonic range. To this end, we will test different hypotheses in the field, including the use of various lipids, phospholipids, glycolipids, and biopolymers. We will characterize the samples using cryo-TEM, small-angle X-ray scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Ultimately, this research could lead to the development of biodegradable, non-toxic, brilliant, photonic pigments.

    Requirements:

    • Master’s degree in chemistry, materials science, physics, or related fields.
    • The desire to conduct interdisciplinary research as part of an international team.
    • The ability to independently and collaboratively advance a complex project. In your motivation letter, please describe the projects in which you have participated and whether you worked alone on the project or in a team.
    • Excellent communication and presentation skills.
    • Proficiency in English at the C1 level.
    • Data analysis skills.

    Advantageous:

    • Experience in physical chemistry and/or nanofabrication
    • Some knowledge of optics
    • Nationality from an EFTA/EU state or Swiss
    • Programming skills, preferably in Python

    Procedure:

    Applications will be collected until October 1st, and the selected candidates will be invited for an interview. The start date for the PhD position is December 1 or January 1.

    Please send your CV, motivation letter, and the contact information of at least two references in one PDF file via email to Viola Vogler-Neuling at ami.applications@unifr.ch, with the subject line “PhD LLLCs for Photonics”.

  • Two PhD Positions - Soft Matter Physics Group
    The Adolphe Merkle Institute's Soft Matter Physics Group (Prof. Ullrich Steiner) invites applications for two PhD positions in the "Strong Localisation of Light through the Controlled Assembly of Amorphous Patchy Colloid Networks” project.

    In opaque materials, light is multiply scattered before emerging.  A long-standing interesting fundamental question arises: Is it possible to design a strongly scattering material from which light never emerges? While theoretically predicted and despite several experimental efforts, this effect has not yet been demonstrated.  Our approach follows the theoretical studies, which require an interplay of order and disorder in the arrangement of the scatterers within the material.  

    To this end, we will develop a system of colloidal building blocks that can be assembled into networks, allowing us to adjust the order-disorder interplay of the resulting network. These 3D networks are then replicated into high-refractive index materials (silicon or titania) and optically characterised to achieve strong light scattering. One of the PhD projects concerns the creation of the building blocks, i.e., the synthesis of the colloids and their assembly, while the second will work on replicating the networks as mentioned above.  Both students will also use molecular dynamics and optical simulations to predict promising network morphologies, guiding their experiments.

    Applicants must have a Master’s degree in Chemistry, Materials Science, or Physics and wish to pursue interdisciplinary research in a fast-moving international team. The ability to advance a complex project independently and as part of a team, excellent communication skills, and proficiency in English are key requirements for this position. Experience in polymer or colloid science will be of advantage, and some knowledge of optics is desirable. 

    The Adolphe Merkle Institute offers attractive employment conditions and outstanding infrastructure in a state-of-the-art research facility.
     
    The position will be filled as soon as possible. Please send your CV, motivation letter, and contact information of at least two references as one PDF file via E‐mail to ami.applications@unifr.ch with the subject title “PhD Light Localisation”.