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Institute of Physics - Doctoral student

Doctoral student at the University of Latvia: Exploring additives of magnetite nanoparticle syntheses

 

Laboratory and Institute: Living Materials – Institute of Physics – University of Latvia – Riga, Latvia.

Duration: Three years (From January 2026). 

Salary: Starting from EUR 2000 (gross)

Working time: full time, 40 h per week

Supervisor: Damien Faivre, damien.faivre@lu.lv

Website: https://livingmaterials.lu.lv/en/

Documents for submission: CV, list of publications, motivation letter, and at least two names for reference letters, to be included in your application and sent by email to damien.faivre@lu.lv and gita.grinberga@lu.lv

Deadline for applications: November 20, 2025 

Qualification of the student: MSc in chemistry, physical chemistry, materials science, nanoengineering or eq. Proficient English is required. Practical skills in the lab are a necessity, writing proficiency is expected. Skills in synthetic approaches, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and/or programming (Python) will be highly appreciated.

Brief description of the project: The Living Materials team of the university of Latvia is an interdisciplinary research group working at the interface between chemistry, physics, biology and materials sciences. One of the research direction focuses on how a magnetic iron oxide, magnetite, can be formed synthetically and by microorganisms, and how such nanoparticles can be used in medical applications. Our group has been generously funded via a grant for the EU as ERA Chair. In this context, we invite applications for:

Doctoral Student (3 years position)

Magnetic iron oxides, in particular magnetite (Fe3O4,Fe(II)Fe(III)2O4), are interesting because they are made of non-critical materials, easily recyclable, biocompatible, and find theranostic applications in biotechnologies (magnetic hyperthermia, contrast agent for MRI, tracer for Magnetic Particle Imaging). The magnetic properties of the synthesized materials are critical for their applications, these properties being governed by mineralogy, dimension and morphology. A sustainable synthetic pathway to large (size larger than about 25 nm) monodisperse magnetite nanoparticles is however lacking.

We propose here to take profit from a recently established robotized high-throughput synthesis process to screen additives for their effect on particle formation. The candidate will test a wide range of physico-chemical conditions of the synthesis parameters space, focusing on biomacromolar additives, in particular those originating from magnetotactic bacteria. The student will characterize the materials, establishing a simple technique for optical characterization. In addition, more advanced techniques will be utilized in collaboration, including Synchrotron Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and X-ray Diffraction to determine particle crystallography, size and morphology. 

Recent papers on the subject:

  • Baumgartner J. et al., 2020, NanoLetters, 20: 5001-5007.
  • Xiouras C. et al., 2022, Chem. Rev., 122: 13006-13042.
  • Kuhrts L. et al., 2024, Adv. Funct. Mater., 2311856