Open Positions

If you are a chemist, physicist, or biochemist and want to understand
the self-assembly process of small and medium-sized charged molecules in
binary and ternary solvent mixtures we can offer you an intersting
project that combines synthesizing these molecules and then study their
(mainly electrostatic) self assembly in solution using electron
paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and diverse light- and x-ray
scattering methods.

In case of questions about BEAM, you may always contact Dr. Imme
Sakwa-Waltz, Tel.: 0345 55-25239, E-Mail:
imme.sakwa-waltz@chemie.uni-halle.de, if you want to apply then please
send your documents using the ID BEAM-A2-2 and the usual documents via
e-mail to Prof. Dr. Dariush Hinderberger,
dariush.hinderberger@chemie.uni-halle.de

Du suchst eine Anstellung als wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft?
Williamson-Veretherung, Hydrosilylierung, Grignard-Reaktionen, Carbonsäure Ester Synthese und viele weitere Reaktionen interessieren Dich in ihrer praktischen Durchführung?
Du möchtest dein Talent in den organischen Synthesen zeigen und das Wissen aus der OC Vorlesung praktisch anwenden?
Du möchtest praktische Erfahrung im Umgang mit verschiedenen Messmethoden sammeln?

M. Sc. Christian Anders sucht ab April eine*n Student*in für die organische Synthese von flüssigkristallinen Systemen innerhalb eines Inkubator-Projekts des GRK 2670.

Neben der praktischen Synthesearbeit lernst du ebenfalls praktische Skills wie z.B.:
– Syntheseplanung
– erweiterte praktische Kenntnisse der organischen Synthesechemie
– verschiedenste praktische Aufarbeitungstechniken
– praktischen Umgang mit Polarisationsmikroskopie (POM) und Dynamische Differenzkalorimetrie (DSC)
– Strukturaufklärung mittels Röntgenbeugungsexperimenten (XRD)

Du arbeitest in einem angenehmen und kleinen Arbeitskreis.

Konditionen der Anstellung:
– Zeitdauer: max. 6 Monate, 10h/ Woche
– Vergütung: Nach den Sätzen der Uni

Du möchtest mehr über die anstehenden Arbeiten erfahren? Dann melde dich bei M. Sc. Christian Anders!
E-Mail: christian.anders@chemie.uni-halle.de
oder persönlich: Kurt-Mothes-Str. 2 im Raum 306a

Molecular motion of biopolymers in vivo is known to be strongly influenced by the high concentration of organic matter inside cells, usually referred to as crowding conditions. This project is concerned with the influence of the strong intermolecular interactions on Brownian motion of proteins undergoing liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). This is a process of strong current interest due to its high biological relevance, as it yields highly crowded “membraneless organelles”. In the project, a combination of NMR spectroscopy techniques, prominently relaxometry and pulsed-field gradient NMR [1], shall be used to study rotational and translational diffusion, respectively. The work also includes biochemical preparations of proteins (gammaD crystallin and growth factor receptor-bound protein 2, supported by collaboration partners and following standard procedures easily learned also by a physicist), as well as the application of complementary characterization techniques such as small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and viscosity measurements.

Many important polymer materials are used in their glassy state, such as polystyrene or polycarbonate (PC). In many cases, for instance in PC, the material’s properties can be significantly improved by cold drawing in the glassy state into the so-called strain-hardening regime. The physics underlying the resulting reinforcement is poorly understood and supposedly connected to modified segmental packing through orientational ordering, along with the possible appearance of nanometer-sized domains. This project aims to study this phenomenon in a large Franco-German collaborative effort funded by the ANR and the DFG, involving theory/simulations (D. Long, Lyon), mechanical studies (R. Rinaldi, Lyon) , calorimetric investigations by DSC (P. Sotta, Lyon), X-ray scattering (P.-A. Albouy, Paris) and solid-state NMR spectroscopy (K. Saalwächter, Halle). The doctoral work to be performed in Halle involves the application of advanced 13C-based NMR techniques to extract the molecular orientation information in the samples prepared in Lyon. It is supported by a senior scientist in the group (Dr. G. Hempel), and the candidate will also be able to spend time at the Lyon labs to become familiar with the mechanical and calorimetry parts of the project.

Amphiphilic conetworks consist of two types of polymer chains linked together in a 3D network, consisting of hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks. Such structures form elastic gels that can be swollen with selective or non-selective solvents. In case of a selective solvent, only one phase is swollen and may form a continuous substructure through which small molecules can diffuse. Applications of such materials include soft contact lenses and scaffold materials for tissue engineering. The project aims at a detailed physical understanding of the relations between network structure, local dynamics, diffusion and the macroscopic properties such as elasticity, processing and transport of active molecules (e.g. nutrients for cells). The materials of study are model systems provided by a collaboration consortium (Forschungsgruppe FOR 2811, funded by the DFG). We include both permanent (covalently crosslinked) as well as transient (physically crosslinked) gels. The thesis work mainly involves the application of advanced NMR techniques probing chain dynamics and molecular diffusion (the latter using pulsed field gradients). Other methods are provided by the consortium, but can also be learned and performed by the doctoral student, such as rheology, small-angle X-ray scattering or transport measurements.