We are currently accepting applications for a PhD student position within the framework of the Severo Ochoa program.

This is a unique opportunity for highly motivated students recently graduated from the University in Physics or related fields to gain research experience in one of DIPC’s high-profile research teams.

The role:
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to join an international and interdisciplinary research team investigating the fundamental processes behind silica-mediated mineral self-organization. The successful candidate will investigate how silica interacts with carbonates and other minerals to generate complex, life-like morphologies under alkaline conditions, resembling those that may have existed on the early Earth. Such self-organized structures, including biomorphs and silica-based membranes, represent a frontier in geochemistry, with direct implications for understanding prebiotic environments, the emergence of complexity and strategies for life detection beyond Earth.

The PhD candidate will conduct research in close relation to the ERC Synergy Grant PROTOS (https://protos-erc.eu/), a European collaborative project that brings together experts in geology, chemistry and materials science to experimentally explore the origins of life on our planet. The work will combine state-of-the-art analytical techniques with novel experimental approaches to probe the mechanisms of silica-mediated mineral self-organization and assess their significance in shaping early Earth environments.

This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to an ambitious scientific endeavor addressing fundamental questions at the intersection of geochemistry and the prebiotic chemistry underlying the origins of life. The successful candidate will become part of a dynamic, international and interdisciplinary research network, working closely with partner institutions across Europe.