The candidate will work on the project The cold-chain challenge: à la carte Time-temperature indicators enabled by patterned structural colour in organic semiconductors (VERITASCAN) within the framework of the EU ERC Proof of Concept 2022 grants. The ambition of VERITASCAN is to advance a novel class of time-temperature indicators characterized by low cost, broad application-centred customisability and ease of handling.

ime-temperature indicators (TTIs) are used to provide visual cues for the undesirable exposure to high temperatures of delicate pharmaceutical and biomedical products such as vaccines, plasma and peptides. Despite the accelerating growth of the global cold-chain market, the existing TTIs cannot address the broad palette of emerging application requirements.

VERITASCAN aims to advance a new TTI concept based on molecular electronic materials and micro-patterning methods pioneered within our group to address the urgent demands of the pharmaceutical market. The goal of the project is to rapidly demonstrate the added value potential of the technology and establish the strategy for its optimal short- and long-term development.

For this specific position our team are seeking an experienced researcher with a physical chemistry or materials science background and motivation to perform cutting-edge applied research for leading the technical activities of the VERITASCAN project.

Main tasks of the candidate
Optimization of materials selection for the required optical and thermal characteristics.
Fabrication and optimization of solution-processed multilayer thin-film architectures.
Optimization of threshold temperatures, lamination and encapsulation.
Implementation of high-throughput combinatorial approaches to fabrication-performance analyses.
Fabrication and testing of prototypes.
Participate in the validation of prototypes by the end-users.

Requirements
The candidate should have an internationally recognised PhD degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline (Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Materials Science).

The ideal candidate would have a strong background in organic electronic materials, including thin-film processing by blade-coating and/or inkjet printing and/or gel-processing, as well as extensive experience with analytical techniques such as optical and Raman spectroscopy. Expertise with the fundament phase-behaviour characteristics of polymer:small-molecule blends will be considered a significant advantage. Optimally, we seek a candidate with previous experience of participating in application-centred proof-of-concept-type projects who may have the motivation to contribute to rapid development of a challenging, and potentially transformative, technology.