We are always looking for highly-motivated individuals to join the LCPO! Interested undergraduate and graduate students can apply to the following offers. They are also strongly encouraged to contact LCPO's researchers directly.
Tenure Track Position - Artificial Intelligence driven Polymer Chemistry
Category: Permanent Position
Duration: between 3 and 6 years depending on the research project and the profile of the scientist
Team: Polymerization catalyses and engineering
Salary: Annual salary from 54 600 € to 57 800 € depending on professionnal experience
Laboratory: LCPO
Contacts : Simon Harrisson , Daniel Taton
Applicant profile
Holders of a doctorate or a PhD or equivalent degree or applicants who have gained scientific qualifications or carried out scientific work deemed to be of an equivalent level.There is no restriction on the age or nationality of applicants. All CNRS positions are accessible to people with disabilities, with special arrangements for tests made necessary by the nature of the disability.
The laureate could contribute to teaching in synthesis and properties of polymers, modeling, data mining, at the bachelor's or master's level.
Project summary
The design of new functional polymers relies on successful exploration of the structure-function landscape. In this area, advances in combinatorial polymer chemistry and machine learning offer interesting opportunities for the engineering of new polymer materials meeting pre-established specifications. The example of biology shows that starting from monomers with simple chemistry, it is possible to obtain functional macromolecules with desired properties. Much like proteins, synthetic polymers have countless combinations of monomers that can result in interesting properties. Given the great diversity of possible monomers, the complexity of polymer materials manifests itself in a combinatorial explosion, which makes rational design unthinkable when the number of different monomers exceeds a few units. Inspired by the recent success of DeepMind's AlphaFold2 in predicting protein structure using machine learning methods based on over 170,000 known protein structures, it is possible to imagine that polymer science will experience new growth by combining Artificial Intelligence and data mining methods and the creation of an experimental or digital database.
In this context, the CNRS open a national chair position. The aim is to recruit a talented young researcher trained abroad to strengthen the theme of AI in polymer science at the national and european level. The integration of the use of AI into synthesis strategy remains quite marginal in France and Europe to date, even though it is developing internationally. Concentrating forces and increasing skills in the area addressed by this project requires not only appropriate training in universities, but also the recruitment of talented scientists already trained and experienced in this exercise.
The laureate will be placed in one of the few national teams that have reached a level of expertise in this field. This include the LCPO. The reinforcement of the theme covered by this project at LCPO will contribute to ensuring France's visibility internationally in this area.
Interested candidates are encouraged to apply by using the link below. Only the candidates selected on file by the selection committee will be invited to the auditions.