Postdoc-Understanding and controlling the excited state of photocatalytic materials (M/F)

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Institut de physique de Rennes Research Field Physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Application Deadline 7 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Nov 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Photo-(electro)catalytic technologies rely on the ability of materials to capture sunlight and drive chemical reactions. Mechanistically, this requires the efficient generation of reactive long-lived excited states. Yet, for many materials, the excited state lifetimes are very short, and this limits the performance of devices and their applicability. However, the physical and chemical reasons behind the short lifetimes and whether they can be prolonged synthetically or via physical methods remain poorly understood. This postdoctoral project will used adavnced spetroscopic tools to understand and control the excited state in functional solids, particularly metal oxides used for photo-electrocatalytic applications. Specifically, the postdoctoral candidate will develop and implement experimental tools to understand the optical response of solids, monitor the electronic and structural dynamics that take place upon photoexcitation and establish how such dynamics impact their fuctional repose. In addition, the research will aim to use optical methods to attempt to control such dynamics to improve device performance.

The research work will involve studies of ultrafast spectroscopy and photocrystallography conducted at the Institute of Physics of Rennes and may also involve application to large-scale facilities such as synchrotrons or X-ray Free Electron Lasers.

This post-doctorate research will be based on the crystallography and time-resolved spectroscopy equipment available in Rennes. The work will be developed within the materials and light department of the IPR (UMR 6251) under the supervision of Ernest Pastor and Roman Bertoni. Our department is an international and highly collaborative environment composed of about 20 people with more than two decades of expertise in spectroscopy and crystallography. .

Candidates must have advanced knowledge in spectroscopy (UV VIS, IR or Raman) and, potentially, know how to use laser radiation to probe solids. A basic understanding of crystallography and competence in the development of optical configurations and microscopy tools may also be desirable. It is desirable that candidates be familiar with data processing programs (Python and similar) as well as the use of large-scale research infrastructures such as synchrotrons and XFEL.