Research Associate/Post-doctoral Fellow – UNSW Faculty of Engineering (School of Chemical Engineering)

Job description

The Opportunity: The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will join a dynamic, collaborative team dedicated to developing sustainable polymers and materials via visible-light-driven processes. The core focus of this role is the design and synthesis of novel, recyclable polymeric materials using low energy photopolymerization. Specifically, the postdoc will work on PET-RAFT (Photoinduced Electron/Energy Transfer Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer) polymerization for the synthesis of degradable polymers intended for bio applications, with a focus on drug delivery systems. Lipoic acid and its derivatives will be employed as key monomers to enable degradability. In addition, the postdoc is expected to leverage machine learning approaches for the optimization of polymer properties and degradation profiles. The successful candidate will lead pioneering research in controlled polymer synthesis, employing advanced techniques to create materials with tailored properties. Primary responsibilities include structural design and physicochemical characterization, as well as assisting in the supervision of PhD students. A central objective is ensuring that all developed materials are recycl...