A new state-of-the-art Ultrafast Laser Centre is being established at UCL.
The centre will be housed in the Chemistry Department and is expected to
be of interest to a wide range of scientists within UCL. Current EPSRC
funded projects in the centre include electronic and molecular dynamics,
coherent control, organic photochemistry, ultrafast chemical biology and
ultrafast surface photochemistry.
Vacancies exist for 3 postdoctoral scientists in ultrafast laser
development, chemical biology and surface science.
1. Laser Development Scientist
A vacancy exists for a Laser Development Scientist in the newly funded
Ultrafast Laser Centre in the Department of Chemistry at University
College London. Candidates may be of any nationality, but must have a
strong background in ultrafast laser science in either physical chemistry
or physics. At least 2 years postdoctoral research using femtosecond
lasers is essential and experience with some of the following would be an
advantage: pulse shaping, harmonic generation, laser mass-spectrometry or
photoelectron imaging. The post is supervised by Professor Helen Fielding.
The post is graded UCL Grade 7, which currently has a salary range from
£24,886 to £30,606. Starting salary will be up to £29,716 (spine point 35)
plus a London Allowance of £2,400. Progression through the salary scale is
incremental. Cost of living pay awards are negotiated nationally and are
usually effective from 1st August each year. The post is available from 1
September 2006.
The postholder will be required to oversee the installation of the new
SRIF 3 femtosecond laser systems and be trained (at UCL) on how to operate
the laser systems and maintain them. They will be expected to manage and
run these laser systems and contribute to the design and installation of
specific optical arrangements including pulse shaping and femtosecond
VUV/XUV generation. The postholder will need to have good general
scientific insight and be creative to ensure that the capabilities of the
facility are maximised. They will facilitate new projects and provide
basic training for PhD students and PDRAs working with the laser system.
The postholder will be required to assist with the design and development
of specific experiments that would benefit from his/her experimental
expertise in lasers, optics, vacuum equipment, electronics, learning
algorithms, software development etc. The postholder will be expected to
participate fully in specific research projects (currently including
ultrafast chemical biology and ultrafast surface photochemistry).
2. Ultrafast chemical biology
A vacancy exists for a 2 year postdoctoral position in the Department of
Chemistry at University College London. The post is funded by the EPSRC
(UK Engineering and Physics Sciences Research Council) Adventurous
Chemistry Initiative. Candidates may be of any nationality, but must have
a strong background in experimental physical chemistry or physics.
Experience with modern mass spectrometry is essential and experience with
femtosecond lasers or photoelectron imaging would be an advantage. The
project will be supervised jointly by Professor Helen Fielding and
Professor Stephen Caddick.
The post is graded UCL Grade 7, which currently has a salary range from
£24,886 to £30,606. Starting salary will be up to £26,402 (spine point 31)
plus a London Allowance of £2,400. Progression through the salary scale is
incremental. Cost of living pay awards are negotiated nationally and are
usually effective from 1st August each year. The post is available from 1
October 2006.
Since the elucidation of the entire human genetic sequence, scientists
have been inundated with a wealth of information on protein structure.
However, although the availability of a protein structure is valuable, it
may not provide any information on the biological function of a specific
protein. In photoinduced biomolecular processes, the protein environment
of the chromophore plays an essential role in determining the reaction
pathway and product distribution of the chromphore. Whilst in solution
based reactions the chromophore molecules move freely around within the
solvent, in protein based reactions the protein environment provides both
a static and dynamical constraint on the motions of the constituent atoms
within the chromophore. In order to understand the role of the protein
environment on photoinduced biological processes in detail it is necessary
to investigate the dynamics of the chromophore in a controlled
environment, i.e. in the gas-phase.
In this collaborative project we aim to develop a unique instrument for
investigating the ultrafast dynamics of real biological systems of several
hundreds of kDa in realistic biological environments in the gas phase,
using a combination of electrospray ionisation and femtosecond
photoelectron spectroscopy.
3. Ultrafast surface photochemistry
A vacancy exists for a 3 year postdoctoral position in the Department of
Chemistry at University College London. The post is funded by the EPSRC
(UK Engineering and Physics Sciences Research Council). Candidates may be
of any nationality, but must have a strong background in experimental
surface science. Experience with ultrahigh vacuum surface science
techniques is essential and experience with laser spectroscopy of surfaces
would be an advantage. The project will be jointly supervised by Dr Wendy
Brown and Professor Helen Fielding.
The post is graded UCL Grade 7, which currently has a salary range from
£24,886 to £30,606. Starting salary will be £24,866 pa (spine point 29)
plus a London Allowance of £2,400. Progression through the salary scale is
incremental. Cost of living pay awards are negotiated nationally and are
usually effective from 1st August each year. The post is available from 1
July 2006 or as soon as possible thereafter.
The ultimate goal of any branch of chemistry, including surface chemistry,
is to understand reactions at a fundamental level. In order to achieve
this, it is necessary both to observe the reaction on an atomic length
scale, and also to monitor the reaction on the same time scale as bond
breaking and making – the femtosecond timescale. This project aims to
establish the foundations for understanding the detailed dynamics of
surface processes, by using state-of-the-art femtosecond pump-probe
techniques to monitor reactions in real time. It will also investigate the
possibility, long discussed theoretically but not yet achieved
experimentally, of using shaped femtosecond laser pulses to control
surface photochemistry. A combination of femtosecond two-pulse correlation
spectroscopy (2PC) and time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES)
will be employed to investigation surface reactions on an ultra-fast
timescale. State-of-the-art femtosecond laser pulse-shaping techniques
will be employed to control the surface photochemistry.
Informal enquiries
Further details are available upon request. Informal enquiries should be
addressed to Professor Helen Fielding (for posts 1 and 2) or Dr Wendy
Brown (for post 3):
Professor Helen Fielding
Department of Chemistry
University College London
20 Gordon Street
London WC1H 0AJ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 5575
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.chem.ucl.ac.uk/people/fielding
Dr Wendy Brown
Department of Chemistry
University College London
20 Gordon Street
London WC1H 0AJ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 4688
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.chem.ucl.ac.uk/people/brown
To apply
Please send a copy of your CV with the names of three referees and the
following forms, completed, to Professor Helen Fielding (for posts 1 and
2) or Dr Wendy Brown (for post 3).
www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/download_forms/recruitment_selection_I.doc
www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/download_forms/recruitment_eo.doc
The closing date for all applications is Friday 19th May 2006
Please note that if you have not heard anything within four weeks of the
closing date, you have not been successful.
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