Researcher in materials science – 18-month postdoctoral position

The Institut Lumière Matière (iLM) is a joint research unit of the CNRS and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, located on the LyonTech-La Doua campus. With a staff of 310 members, including approximately one third PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, iLM is a center of excellence in physics and chemistry in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and enjoys international recognition for the quality of its research. The institute structures its approach around a continuum linking fundamental research, responses to societal challenges, and innovation. The ILMTech technological platform, which serves as an interface between research and innovation, provides state-of-the-art equipment and technical expertise to academic and industrial partners. Research conducted at iLM results in approximately 250 publications per year in peer-reviewed international journals, more than half of which are co-authored with a foreign institution. The institute positions itself as a major player in deep tech, with 6 patents filed annually and the creation of 11 start-ups as well as one joint laboratory (LabCom).

SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT : The postdoctoral researcher will be based at the Lumière Matière Institute and will work in collaboration with the Mateis laboratory and a local manufacturing company as part of the Nanopol project, funded by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. He or she will work on the development of high-performance nanostructured materials using a new sintering process (SPS, Spark Plasma Sintering) at very high pressures (several GPa).

MISSIONS : After training in high-pressure sintering techniques, he or she will be responsible for operating the high-pressure sintering equipment to independently optimize the manufacturing process for the target material. This involves:

-Pre-treatment and characterization of the initial powders

-Conducting sintering tests to optimize process parameters

-Characterization of materials (X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy, polishing, optical transparency measurements, hardness measurements)

He or she will analyze and synthesize the results to present them to the project partners. A weekly meeting will be held with the project leader and the academic partner, and a meeting every two months with the industrial partner.

OUTLOOKS : Most of the study will be subject to confidentiality and may lead to the filing of intellectual property rights. The partnership with the partner company may continue beyond 18 months for the exploitation of the results.

Education in materials chemistry. Experience with sintering processes for the manufacture of dense ceramics. Proficiency in techniques for the physicochemical characterization of materials. Ph.D. in materials science.

Strong interest in experimental research, ability to work independently, scientific rigor, and strong writing skills in English.

By the end of the first year, the candidate hired must have optimized the manufacturing process and produced ceramic parts to be tested in operating conditions with the industrial partner over the past six months.