PhD Positions in Physics of Complex Systems (Soft Matter), The Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland

2 PhD Positions in Physics of Complex Systems ( Soft Matter )

PhD topics:
A10. Lyotropic cubic liquid crystals - from cubosomes to small monocrystals
A11. Shape transformations of multicomponent biological membranes.

4 yrs PhD studies in collaboration with other European scientific institutions
A10: 3 yrs in Poland and 1yr in France, Paris
A11: 3yrs in Poland and 1yr in Slovenia, Ljubljana

More details on http://ichf.edu.pl/wtg.html

Description of the recruitment procedure

Applications of candidates from all countries are invited.

Application deadline for the first admission: 30-09-2009. Second admission is planned for the next semester.

Candidates have to:

(1) hold Master of Science or equivalent degree obtained not earlier than in 2004;
(2) be fluent in English;
(3) submit the required documents by e-mail (mpd[ at ]ichf.edu.pl) before 30-09-2009.

Documents to be submitted to the Recruitment Commission

• A short (up to two pages) letter of intent, describing the candidate’s qualifications for the project. This letter should be focused on his/her skills in performing independent scientific research and abilities for an efficient team work, and indicate how the former education (courses completed, skills acquired) makes him/her a person most eligible for the project, etc.
• A short summary (not more than four pages) of the Candidate’s M Sc thesis with emphasis on the scientific research aspect of it.
• A confidential letter of recommendation from a referee, who can judge his/her potential as a PhD student. This letter should be sent by the referee to the e-mail address mpd[ at ]ichf.edu.pl or faxed (fax number 48 22-343-3333 or 48 22-632-5276) from an institutional e-mail address or fax number.
• Filled application form.

All documents should be submitted electronically (preferably in one e-mail letter) to the address: mpd[ at ]ichf.edu.pl

Candidates with the highest preliminary admission scores will be invited for an interview.

The interview of all invited candidates will be conducted at the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Warsaw.

The date and time of the interview will be announced on the internet web page before 07-10-2009. Hard copies of all official documents should be supplied to the IPC PAS by the interview day.

For foreign candidates the interview in the form of teleconference can be accepted.

During the interview with the members of the Recruitment Commission, the candidates should be prepared to answer questions related to their submitted letter of intent and content of the MSc thesis, their scientific background and expertise, as well as some general questions.

Admission decisions will be based upon preliminary admission scores, the results of the interview and the opinion of the prospective PhD supervisor. As soon as the recruitment process is completed, the candidates will be notified about the results.