You will be working as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) in the young and enthusiastic Franchino group, within the Department of Chemistry at Durham University. The post is available for 3 years, including 1-year probation, with an ideal start date on February 2025 or later. The salary is grade 7, spine point 32 (£40,247 per year before taxes).
Durham University, in the North of England, is a world top 100 university (QS World University Rankings 2025) with a global reputation for teaching and research. Our Chemistry degree is among the best ones in the UK (5th in the Complete University Guide 2024, 10th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, and 11th in the Guardian University Guide 2024).
Durham University is one of the UK’s most historic universities, sitting in a beautiful, hilly city whose Romanesque Cathedral is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Durham’s unique college system creates a strong sense of belonging, offers several social activities and provides students with additional pastoral care. As a PDRA in Durham, you will become part of a dynamic, friendly and international community, and benefit from cutting-edge facilities.
The Department of Chemistry is well equipped, with state-of-the-art instrumentation and facilities, and is located in the Science Campus, a 10-minute walk away from Durham old town. 96% of our research outputs were rated world-leading or internationally excellent in the latest UK-wide review (REF 2021). The Department and the Franchino group have close research links with industrial partners and other universities in the UK and abroad.
The Franchino laboratory is currently undergoing a floor-to-ceiling refurbishment to the highest standards, so you will be able to work in a shiny, efficient and modern environment from day one. Alongside standard equipment for synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry, the Franchino lab benefits from dedicated, brand new glovebox, HPLC instrument and microwave synthesizer. Additionally, group members have access to departmental NMR, MS, XRD, EA and spectroscopic support units, mechanical, electrical and glassblowing workshops, and the University supercomputer Hamilton.
The University provides a working and teaching environment that is inclusive and welcoming, where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. We actively encourage applicants with diverse career paths and backgrounds, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religious beliefs. The Chemistry Department holds an Athena Swan Silver Award. The Franchino group is keen on increasing diversity, and actively seeks to attract and nurture the best and most motivated co-workers, regardless of their protected characteristics and country of origin. Applications from women and underrepresented groups are especially encouraged.
The Role
As a PDRA in the Franchino group, you will be pursuing ground-breaking research merging metal and organocatalysis, to develop new strategies for the stereoselective synthesis of organic molecules. Your project is funded by a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF, 1.7m € in total) recently awarded to the PI, entitled “ChloroCat: Unlocking metal-chloride bonds for data-driven stereoselective catalysis”. In this project, you will design, prepare and test (chiral) organocatalysts capable of engaging with common metal halide (pre)catalysts via non-covalent interactions, using an anion-binding approach. These binary catalytic systems will then be screened combinatorially in several reactions, including with a high-throughput experimentation setup, to achieve increased rate, unusual regio- and stereoselectivity and/or unprecedented levels of enantiocontrol. The mode of action of the binary catalytic systems will be investigated experimentally and explored computationally. Improved second-generation catalysts will be designed following mechanistic insights, with the help of structure-activity relationships and computational predictions.
You will spend 1 month in the laboratory of our collaborator Dr Jolene Reid at the University of British Columbia (Canada), to gain advanced skills in DFT calculation and machine learning techniques applied to catalyst design. All expenses for your stay at UBC will be covered by the FLF.
The project involves the following skills. It is expected that you are, at present, an expert on at least one of them, and looking forward to mastering all the others all during your stay in the group:
- synthetic organic and organometallic chemistry (synthesis, purification and characterisation of substrates, products, ligands and catalysts using several techniques);
- enantioselective catalysis (with both transition metals and organocatalysts, and using HTE);
- supramolecular chemistry (study of non-covalent interactions in solution and in the solid state);
- mechanistic elucidation using experimental and computational tools (e.g., kinetic studies, DFT calculations for homogeneous catalytic reactions and machine learning workflows).
The PI is happy to share more details on the project at the interview stage. For relevant references on the proposed topic of research, please read:
- Silver-free Au(I) catalysis enabled by bifunctional urea- and squaramide-phosphine ligands via H-bonding. A. Franchino, À. Martí, S. Nejrotti, A. M. Echavarren, Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 11989–11996.
- H-bonded counterion-directed enantioselective Au(I) catalysis. A. Franchino, À. Martí, A. M. Echavarren, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 3497–3509.
- H-bonded counterion-directed catalysis: enantioselective Au(I)-catalyzed additions to enones as a case study. À. Martí, M. Montesinos-Magraner, A. M. Echavarren, A. Franchino, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2022, 38, e202200518.
- Enantioselective transition-metal catalysis via an anion-binding approach. J. M. Ovian, P. Vojáčková, E. N. Jacobsen, Nature 2023, 616, 84–89.
Your key responsibilities are outlined in detail in the section below. You will cooperate will all group members, train younger students and behave as a positive role mode for the Franchino group, setting a supportive group culture rooted in research integrity. The PI herself will lead by example, and will always be available to support you in your role, including providing technical expertise in the laboratory, advice on research and career matters, and help with international relocations. You will participate in weekly group meetings and problem sessions, and have the chance to attend group and departmental social activities. You will also benefit from our regular departmental seminar programme, and present your work at national and international conferences, engaging with other scientists from academia and industry. Tailored mentoring and enthusiastic support to reach your career goals and improve your skill set will be provided by the PI, the whole Franchino group, the Department of Chemistry and the University (e.g., Durham Centre for Academic Development, Careers & Enterprise Hub).
Key responsibilities:
- To conduct research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator (PI), working productively both on your own and in collaboration with others, as appropriate.
- To plan and manage your research activity effectively and with minimal input from the PI, share research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the ideation and planning of research projects.
- To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the PI and offering creative or innovative solutions.
- To work with the PI and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and ideas, and extend the research portfolio.
- To assist with the development of research projects and proposals.
- To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature through written presentations and oral discussions.
- To prepare and deliver presentations on research activities to both academic and non-academic audiences.
- To prepare high-quality outputs, including monthly reports for the PI, papers for submission to peer-reviewed journals and abstracts for presentation at conferences under the direction of the PI.
- To participate regularly to research group meetings and engage consistently in problem sessions, striving to improve your knowledge as well as transmitting it to other group members.
- To liaise with departmental and university support units as appropriate for the progression of the research projects, follow all rules and guidelines in place in the group, Department and University, and make all required internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
- To be involved in student supervision in the context of the research group.
- To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate.
- To engage in continuing professional development by attending relevant training and development courses.
- To contribute to fostering a collegial, supportive and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect, in the group, in the Department and in the University.
This post is fixed term for 3 years, as the funding has been awarded to the PI to cover for a 36-month PDRA position, as part of her UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.
The post-holder is employed to work on research that will be led by another colleague (the Principal Investigator, PI). Whilst this means that you will not be carrying out independent research in your own right, the expectation is that you will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of your own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.
You will, ideally, be in post by February 2025, however a later start date can be easily accommodated.
For more information and to apply visit https://durham.taleo.net/careersection/du_ext/jobdetail.ftl?job=24001799