Summary
This PhD topic is part of the INNOCHEMBIO Doctoral Programme, which is funded through the Marie Skłodowska- Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND action. The main objective of INNOCHEMBIO is to train future experts of sustainable chemistry and biotechnology, helping Europe to take the next steps in the green transition. This project aims to study the driving forces in mechanochemical reactions and learn to control reactivity in condensed matter. This PhD position will be hosted at TalTech with main supervisor Prof. Riina Aav and will contain a secondment to co-supervisor Prof. Tomislav Friščić at University of Birmingham (UK).
Research field: Chemistry and biotechnology
Offered by: School of Science Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology
Description
General description of programme and host
The PhD fellowship is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND doctoral programme IN- NOCHEMBIO (https://taltech.ee/en/innochembio), which is co-funded by the European Union (Grant agreement 101217295). The main objective of INNOCHEMBIO is to train future experts to help Europe take the next steps in the green transition. The solutions and trained experts can reduce the environmental impact of the chemical and agricultural industries, offer eco-friendly analytical techniques, and assess the safety of new materials. INNOCHEM- BIO funding will co-finance 15 PhD positions, for which the application process in the first call will start on the 1st of July in 2025.
For 12 PhD positions the hosting institution will be Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology (DCB) at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) which combines three divisions – Chemistry, Gene Technology and Biomedicine, and Food and Biotechnology. DCB is developing solutions to the great challenges of the 21st century – climate change, environmental protection, carbon neutrality, renewable energy, and biodiversity conservation. DCB hosts the second biggest PhD programme in TalTech with nearly a hundred enrolled students.
For 3 PhD positions the hosting institution will be the implementing partner – National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (NICPB). NICPB is a public research institution that conducts both fundamental and applied research, developing novel directions in fields ranging from material sciences to informatics. NICPB houses the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and several laboratories focused on fundamental research in NMR technologies with expertise dating back decades. The PhD training activities conducted by NICPB are funded through TalTech.
Importantly, each PhD project has one co-supervisor from another European country, which is detailed under the specific offer (see under supervisors' section). In total, INNOCHEMBIO has 19 associate partners from 11 European countries.
Description of specific PhD project
Mechanochemistry has emerged as a sustainable synthesis tool, outperforming traditional organic synthesis in the solution phase, by avoiding the use of bulk solvents and minimizing the need for organic resources, which in turn reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite recent progress, the reactivity at the interface of solids and within the assisting liquid during mechanical activation is not yet well understood. Particularly intriguing is the reactivity between inorganic and organic compounds, enantioselective catalysis, and the synthesis of complex supramolecular building blocks. This project offers a future PhD student the opportunity to fill the gaps in understand- ing the driving forces and learn to control reactivity in condensed matter.
There will be two topic options to choose from: (1) developing a mechanistic understanding of mechanochemical reactions, or (2) developing dynamic covalent chemistry and non-covalent interaction driven synthesis of supramolecular systems. Both topics are expected to lead to the discovery of new mechanochemical transformations.
The successful synthetic protocols will be scaled up from mg scale to multigram scale using in-house mechanochemical equipment and, possibly, other techniques with the help of our academic collaboration network.
Experimental work will be conducted in chemistry research lab equipped with planetary and mixer mills, and suitable for organic synthesis, also access to various chemical analysis methods (like NMR, HPLC, MS, IR, UV, FS, CD, VCD, SC-XRD and PXRD) is available in the group.
PhD student will spend some part of PhD period in lab of Tomislav Friščić in University of Birmingham, UK and have opportunity to do internship in Novartis Basel, CH.