We are looking for a PhD student for a Latvian Council of Science #FLPPLV project "Biologically inspired models of active matter driven by electromagnetic field"

Active matter is a system where its constituent elements are the energy source. The main objective of this project is to create and develop theoretical models of EM field driven active matter and achieve their quantitative experimental and numerical verification. Various active matter systems of the project include magnetic drops, magnetic filaments [1], ensembles of spinning particles, magnetotactic bacteria [2] and ferrogels. Different configurations of external field allow their manipulation. The project group, consisting of physicists, chemists and mathematicians will study these phenomena both theoretically and experimentally. PhD project will be a part of this research and will be adapted according to the background and interests of the applicant. Possible topics are hyperuniformity in rotating magnetic droplet systems [3], swarming and synchronization of active particles (e.g. bacteria, hematite particles) [2,4] and others. Therefore, students with both theoretical and/or experimental interests are welcome.

The position is planned for 36 months with an expected start in Autumn 2021. It has a gross salary starting from 1260 EUR/month, which is higher than the average salary in Latvia.

Depending on the chosen topic, supervisor will be Prof. Andrejs Cēbers (h-index 30 (Scopus), ORCID 0000-0003-3979-4904) and/or Assist.prof. Guntars Kitenbergs (h-index 6 (Scopus), ORCID 0000-0002-2230-713X)

The MMML lab is located in the newly built House of Science of the University of Latvia, in Riga, Latvia. It is a pleasant and motivating environment. To see the location, see the Contact section of lab webpage.

The candidate should hold a Master degree in Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanics or in similar disciplines. Background in hydrodynamics, electromagnetism, soft matter, numerical or experimental skills will be considered an advantage. Both candidates with theoretical and/or experimental background are welcome. An interest for interdisciplinary research is important. Fluent in English.

Until July 11, 2021 send CV, diploma copy, a motivation letter and other relevant information to e-mail: guntars.kitenbergs@lu.lv

More information can be found here in English and here in Latvian. Euraxess advertisement is here.

References:

[1] A. Zaben, et al., Soft Matter, 16, 4477 (2020) link
[2] M. Belovs, et al., Soft Matter, 15, 1627 (2019) link
[3] A. P. Stikuts, et al., JMMM, 500, 166304 (2020) link
[4] K. Bente, et al., arXiv:1707.02827 link