SoftComp

Post-Doc Position in Singapore: Research Fellow in Soft Materials Science (Structural Characterisation of Protein-based Food Textures)
2025-06-09 08:00 - 2025-11-01 17:00 (Europe/Berlin)
Dear Soft Matter Community,
please find here below an announcement for a postdoctoral researcher (Research Fellow) to join the team at TUMCREATE in Singapore.
The focus will be on the structural characterisation of protein-based food texture as part of the Proteins4Singapore project. Experience with scattering techniques (e.g., SAXS, SANS) or imaging methods (e.g., confocal microscopy, AFM, X-ray tomography) would be particularly valuable.
This position sits at the interface of soft matter, food physics, and materials science, and is based at the unique CREATE campus at the National University of Singapore, where TUM is co-located with institutions such as MIT, ETH Zurich, Imperial College, University of Cambridge, UC Berkeley, University of Illinois, and Hebrew University, among others.
More info on: https://jobrxiv.org/job/tumcreate-27778-research-fellow-in-soft-materials-science-2/.
Please do not hesitate to contact Stefan Guldin (stefan.guldin@tum-create.edu.sg) for any information and to forwarding this to potentially interested candidates.

PhD position on self-assembly dynamics at fluid-fluid interfaces @Wageningen University
2025-09-02 08:00 - 2025-10-02 17:00
We have an open PhD position on self-assembly dynamics at fluid-fluid interfaces. Please see the following links for further details:
https://www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/phd-position-in-evaporation-driven-self-assembly-at-fluid-fluid-interfaces.htm
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/637df0f9710645120109b63b/t/68b6c8e804b48618b979c188/1756809448309/vacancy-phd-superassembly.pdf

W3-Professorship in Machine Learning in Physics
2025-12-18 08:00 - 2026-02-16 17:00
The professorship is embedded within the Excellence Cluster “Machine Learning: New Perspectives for
Science”, which is now entering its second funding phase. The successful candidate is expected to have an
established research profile in a core area of physics, as well as a strong track record in research questions
related to machine learning and/or artificial intelligence.
Core areas of physics include the structure of condensed matter (description of many-body systems), quantum
physics (characterization of quantum states in many-body systems), and theoretical particle physics. In all of
these areas, methodological development through machine learning is taking place — for example, in predicting
the evolution of complex molecular systems over long timescales, investigating quantum mechanical effects in
information processing within (quantum) neural networks, or in elementary particle physics at high-energy
accelerators.
The aim of the professorship is to closely integrate research at one of the Department of Physics’ research
centers (BioNanoPhysics Center, Center for Quantum Science, or Kepler Center) with ongoing machine
learning research activities in Tübingen. The appointee is expected to be actively involved in the Department
of Physics and in the Excellence Cluster, inter alia by pursuing collaborative research projects at the interface
of machine learning and physics, as well as by committing to organizational and implementation-related tasks
within the Excellence Cluster. Further information about the Excellence Cluster can be found at: http://www.ml-in-science.uni-tuebingen.de/
In terms of teaching, the professorship is expected to offer courses within the Department of Physics and also
contribute to the international Master’s program “Machine Learning” offered by the Department of Computer
Science.
Required qualifications include a PhD or equivalent degree as well as postdoctoral qualifications and teaching
experience equivalent to the requirements of a full professorship.
The University of Tübingen is committed to equity and diversity and actively promotes equal opportunities.
Female academics, in particular, are explicitly invited to apply, as are applicants from outside Germany.
Applications from equally qualified candidates with disabilities will be given preference.
General information on professorships, hiring processes, and the German academic system can be found here:
https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/213700
Please submit your full application through the application site of the University of Tübingen at
https://berufungen.uni-tuebingen.de by 15 February 2026. Questions concerning the call for applications and
the application portal can be directed to the Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Tübingen,
Professor Dr. Thilo Stehle (career@mnf.uni-tuebingen.de).

Tasso Springer Fellowships - Six PhD Positions in Neutron Research
2026-03-18 08:00 - 2026-06-18 17:00
Are you interested in performing exciting research with neutrons and working together with scientists from all over the world? The Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) develops and operates high-performance neutron scattering instruments at some of the best neutron sources worldwide. Our main outstation is located at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) in Garching near Munich, where we operate 11 instruments in a user program and for our own research in the fields of “Neutron Scattering and Soft Matter (JCNS-1)”, “Quantum Materials and Collective Phenomena (JCNS-2)” and “Neutron Analytics for Energy Research (JCNS-3)”. JCNS invites applications for the Tasso Springer Fellowship Program, named after the outstanding neutron scientist who in his career was bridging neutron research in Jülich to Garching and Grenoble. The PhD fellowships aim at educating the next generation of researchers in neutron scattering. The successful candidates will be jointly supervised by scientists based at the outstation in Garching and at the JCNS institutes in Jülich.

Phd Position: MXene-based bijels for functional materials
2026-04-08 08:00 - 2026-05-01 17:00
In this PhD project, we will develop MXene-based bijels aimed at electromagnetic shielding functionality. The research project will start with material formulation. Subsequently, a fundamental study of the factors governing the bijel microstructure, including temperature and external flow fields, will be performed. Subsequently, the relations between bijel microstructure and electrical properties of the resulting materials will be investigated. Selective localization of the MXene particles at a liquid-liquid interface will lead to hierarchically structured materials for which the properties can be engineered by means of the microstructure in combination with the particle organization at the interface. With these conductive MXene particles, the particle-filled interface has the double functionality to provide mechanical stability to the bijel as well as to generate electrically conductive pathways through the material. Therefore, it will be investigated how various material formulation and processing conditions affect the viscoelastic and dielectric properties. At the end, the aim is to generate bijels with electromagnetic shielding functionality. The main techniques that will be used in the project are particle synthesis, bulk rheology, microscopy, dielectric characterization and electromagnetic shielding characterization.

Research Assistant / PhD Student (all genders) Structuring of Nanoparticles in Polymer Brushes
2026-07-24 08:00 - 2026-08-07 17:00
As part of the research training group GRK2516 (https://grk2516.uni-mainz.de/), we are seeking a motivated PhD candidate at the Technical University in Darmstadt.
The project aims to investigate composite materials made of stimuli-responsive polymer on solid substrates, using adsorbed polymer microgels or polymer brushes as coatings and nanoparticles (NP) as doping agents. The NP serve as sensors, making the composite sensitive to specific outer stimuli.
The project comprises preparation and analysis of the composite materials by the PhD candidate. As experimental techniques, atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP) and dip coating for preparation and atomic force microscopy as well as X-ray and neutron reflectometry on large-scale research facilities are, among other lab techniques, foreseen for characterisation.
More details and the application process can be found at
https://www.career.tu-darmstadt.de/tu-darmstadt/job/56078
