Your PhD at IChF: the 2nd round of recruitment to the Doctoral School for the 2024/2025 academic year starts on July 26!

About us:

The Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IChF) is a leading research unit in Poland. Founded in 1955, it boasts the highest scientific category awarded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (A+). The Institute has the right to use the "HR Excellence in Research" logo, which confirms its attention to the highest standards in recruiting scientists, support in their career development and also the social commitment of its employees.

Research teams at the Institute work on issues at the intersection of chemistry, physics and biology. The Institute's openness and interdisciplinarity allows it to conduct basic research as well as research of an applied nature, as evidenced by the spin-off companies that have been created on the basis of the discoveries and inventions of Institute employees. Each year, the Institute's employees publish more than 200 scientific publications (including in such prestigious journals as Nature and Science), and are authors of many patents. IChF is committed to the training of young scientists through two doctoral schools and a rich scholarship offer for first and second degree students.

The institute promotes scientific excellence. Together with the IOCB in Prague, it awards a unique prize every two years, the Dream Chemistry Award (DCA). As part of the DCA, the Dream Chemistry Lecture series is also organized at IChF, during which young scientists from around the world can share their knowledge with scientists from the Warsaw scientific community.

Additional advantages of pursuing a PhD at our Institute:

We prioritize our doctoral students' focus on science and do not require them to teach, although they have the opportunity to do so. In addition, we provide fully funded doctoral education. Through extensive global collaborations, including partnerships with esteemed institutions such as University College London and the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, and participation in transcontinental networks such as the Science, Technology, Innovation and Culture Network Berstic, we offer a rich international academic environment. Our doctoral students benefit from long-term secondments through grants or the Erasmus+ program.

Almost half of our doctoral students come from abroad, which contributes to the diversity of our academic community. What's more, our educational offerings are enriched by a variety of Warsaw-4-PhD School courses within 9 scientific institutions. Located in the capital, a global city, our headquarters are in a science-friendly hub known for its cultural richness, culinary delights and safety, making Warsaw an ideal place for academic development.

Doctoral studies at IChF:

IChF offers full doctoral studies as part of the Warsaw PhD School in Natural and BioMedical Sciences (Warsaw-4-PhD). Founded in 2019, the Warsaw-4-PhD School gathers 9 Warsaw scientific institutions which run PhD programs in cooperation with each other. The school offers interdisciplinary education in 4 scientific disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics, and medicine. Each institution trains doctoral students in its leading scientific field. Recruitment for doctoral studies takes place three times a year.

We invite master's graduates in chemistry, physics, materials engineering and related fields, both experimentalists and theoreticians, with talents in the natural and exact sciences, showing a strong motivation for research work.

We propose interesting projects, both experimental and theoretical, in the field of basic research, mainly in the following areas:

- Nanotechnology and new materials;

- Photochemistry and Photophysics;

- Physical Chemistry of solids, soft matter, and surface phenomena;

- Biochemistry and Biophysics;

- molecular and supramolecular Physical Chemistry;

- Chemical Kinetics and Catalysis;

- Quantum Chemistry, Mathematical Modelling of chemical phenomena, Molecular Dynamics;

- Electrochemistry, including mechanisms of electrode processes, design of electrochemical bio- and chemosensors, and electrochemistry of materials.

The current 2nd round of PhD recruitment for the academic year 2024/2025:

The 2nd round of recruitment for the 2024/2025 academic year began with the announcement of projects within the Doctoral School on July 12. The call for applications will run from July 26 to August 9, 2024. We are offering 20 places within 18 PhD projects at IChF. Deadlines for recruitment interviews are from September 2, 2024 to September 11, 2024.

We encourage all potential candidates to contact the coordinators of the projects they are interested in in advance to find out more details. IChF also offers paid internships to familiarize candidates with research conducted at the institute (usually 1-3 months to be arranged with the supervisor). If interested, please contact potential mentors directly.

Detailed information on the terms and conditions of admission to the Warsaw-4-PhD School: http://www.warsaw4phd.eu.

IChF PhD Projects:

Currently, our Institute offers eighteen research projects to be carried out at the doctoral level, and we have 20 places available:

3.1. Synergy of NMR and optical spectroscopy methods for the study of photochemistry and photostability of chemical compounds. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Jacek Waluk. Contact: jwaluk@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr Tomasz Ratajczyk. Contact: tratajczyk@ichf.edu.pl

3.2 Horizon for Excellence in messenger RNA applications in immunoOncology [HERO]. 2 places available. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Robert Hołyst. Contact: rholyst@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr inż. Karina Kwapiszewska. Contact: kkwapiszewska@ichf.edu.pl

3.3 Novel methods of conductive polymers synthesis. Supervisor: dr hab. Piyush Sindhu Sharma. Contact: psharma@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr inż. Maciej Cieplak. Contact: mcieplak@ichf.edu.pl

3.4 Characterization of α-Pinene and β-Pinene Dimer Esters using liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Rafal Szmigielski. Contact: rszmigielski@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr inż. Agata Błaziak. Contact: akolodziejczyk@ichf.edu.pl

3.5 Unlocking the potential of ion-transfer voltammetry based electronic tongues for date-rape drug detection in real samples. 2 places available. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Martin Jönsson-Niedziółka. Contact: martinj@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr inż. Emilia Witkowska Nery. Contact: ewitkowskanery@ichf.edu.pl

3.6 Synthesis and modification of functional nanocoatings with adaptable properties. Supervisor: dr hab. Jan Paczesny, IChF Professor. Contact: jpaczesny@ichf.edu.pl

3.7 Research of highly doped amplification media and development of femtosecond laser design with high pulse energy. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Yuriy Stepanenko. Contact: stepanenko@ichf.edu.pl

3.8 Research and development of ultraviolet light pulse sources. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Yuriy Stepanenko. Contact: stepanenko@ichf.edu.pl

3.9 Creating a database for machine learning biomass gasification process control: simulations and experiment. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Robert Hołyst. Contact: rholyst@ichf.edu.pl Auxiliary Supervisor: dr Paweł Żuk (IChF), dr Marek Dudyński (Qenergy sp. z o. o.). Contact: pzuk@ichf.edu.pl

3. 10 Observation of the visual cycle in vivo using fluorescence with two-photon excitation. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Maciej Wojtkowski. Contact: mwojtkowski@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr Piotr Kasprzycki. Contact: pkasprzycki@ichf.edu.pl

3.11 Computational Design and Modeling of Novel Emitters for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes. Supervisor: dr hab. Adam Kubas. Contact: akubas@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr Michał Kochman. Contact: mkochman@ichf.edu.pl

3.12 Vascular tissue engineering on granular scaffolds: experiments and modelling. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Piotr Garstecki. Contact: pgarstecki@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr Jan Guzowski. Contact: jguzowski@ichf.edu.pl

3.13 Interactions mediated by fluctuating medium in and out-of equilibrium. Supervisor: prof. dr Anna Maciołek. Contact: amaciolek@ichf.edu.pl:

3.14 Comprehensive, multimodal profiling of chromatin states and gene expression in single cells. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. Maciej Wojtkowski. Contact: mwojtkowski@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr Marcin Tabaka. Contact: mtabaka@ichf.edu.pl

3.15 Photoswitching under dual confinement: a new strategy for the light regulation of functional host-guest systems. Supervisor: dr hab. Volodymyr Sashuk, IChF Professor. Contact: vsashuk@ichf.edu.pl

3.16 Application of the molecularly imprinted polymer films in electrochemical surface plasmon resonance based sensing. Supervisor: dr hab. Piyush Sindhu Sharma, IChF Professor. Contact: psharma@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr inż. Maciej Cieplak. Contact: mcieplak@ichf.edu.pl

3.17 Synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles for chemosensing and electrosynthesis. Supervisor: dr hab. Piyush Sindhu Sharma, IChF Professor. Contact: psharma@ichf.edu.pl

3.18 Surface-Interface engineering in constructing multi-dimensional functional hybrid piezophotocatalysts for redox selective organic synthesis in flow. Supervisor: prof. dr hab. inż. Juan Carlos Colmenares Quintero. Contact: jcarloscolmenares@ichf.edu.pl. Auxiliary Supervisor: dr inż. Dariusz Łomot, dr Hanggara Sudrajat. Contact: dlomot@ichf.edu.pl, dr Hanggara Sudrajat

IChF offers to PhD students:

• High quality research opportunities
• State-of-the-art research equipment and computational facilities
• Scientific collaboration with renowned research centres of Europe, USA, and Japan
• Possibility to acquire the teaching experience
• Frequent contacts with the research advisor
• Friendly and encouraging atmosphere. 

Benefits for our PhD students:

Doctoral students are included in the Polish public healthcare system, together with their spouses and children. They also profit from an additional healthcare package. IChF supports the foreign students in their applications for the work permits. Polish language classes are available, free of charge

Selection process:

Candidates for the Warsaw-4-PhD School are invited to submit applications using the electronic form: https://warsaw4phd.eu/register.php by August 9, 2024. Applicants are invited to select not more than 3 PhD projects from the offer of the School, indicating their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices. The current IChF projects (each of these proposed for a single doctoral student) are listed above. Candidates meeting the preliminary criteria will be invited for Zoom-based interviews, to be held within the period from 2 September 2024 to 11 September 2024.

Important information:

• Admission to the Doctoral School is free.
• There is no fee for studying at the Doctoral School.
• The academic year starts on October 1st and lasts until September 30th of the following calendar year.
• The duration of doctoral studies is four years. The programme and the remuneration correspond to the requirements of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
• For details, please check Admission Rules for the particular academic year in Documents tab.
• Candidates who do not hold a Master's, Master of Engineering, or equivalent degree, but will obtain it by the end of the admission process are allowed to apply to the School. In such a case, a diploma or written declaration confirming graduation with a Master's or equivalent degree is required by the date of completion of the admission process.

Admissions schedule:

Candidates apply online to the Doctoral School for the academic year 2024/2025 by submitting the required documents. Here are the most relevant dates for the three offered admission rounds:

Announcement of the recruitment:

• 6 May 2024 – first admission round (concluded)
• 12 July 2024 – second admission round (ongoing recruitment)
• 5 December 2024 – third admission round

Admissions deadlines:

• from 20 May 2024 to 02 June 2024 – first admission round (concluded)
• from 26 July 2024 to 9 August 2024 – second admission round (ongoing recruitment)
• from 19 December 2024 to 06 January 2025 – third admission round

Interviews of candidates are held:

• from 24 June 2024 to 3 July 2024 – first admission round (concluded)
• from 2 September 2024 to 11 September 2024 – second admission round (ongoing recruitment)
• from 27 January 2025 to 30 January 2025 – third admission round

The results will be announced:

• after 5 July 2024 – first admission round (concluded)
• after 13 September 2024 – second admission round (ongoing recruitment)
• after 31 January 2025 – third admission round

Candidates who are selected for the second stage of the recruitment process will be invited for interviews by email.

The Recruitment Policy of the Warsaw-4-PhD School is available at this link: https://warsaw4phd.eu/yleerdad/2022/09/Recruitment-Policy-2022_FIN.pdf.

More information about the Warsaw-4-PhD School is available on: https://warsaw4phd.eu/en/.