Scholarship holder Student/PhD candidate in OPUS project (DoPCh) | Faculty of Chemistry at the Gdańsk University of Technology

Unit name: Gdańsk University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Physical Chemistry

Position title: Scholarship holder / Student / PhD candidate

The Department of Physical Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, is seeking a candidate for the position of PhD candidate/scholarship holder to carry out research tasks within the OPUS project: “Machine-learning a new generation of force fields for the atomistic simulations of RNA”.

Requirements:

• A completed second-cycle (Master’s) degree in physics, chemistry, biology, or related fields, with a Master’s or Master of Engineering degree, OR student status in the final year of second-cycle studies in these fields with planned graduation after the summer semester 2025/2026;

• At the time of starting the project tasks - PhD student status in a doctoral school or doctoral program conducted by an authorized academic institution, a research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a research institute, or an international scientific institute operating in Poland;

• English proficiency at level B2 or higher;

• Experience in conducting and analyzing molecular simulations;

• Documented scientific achievements (reports, preprints, or publications).

* According to NCN regulations, a scholarship holder must meet the conditions specified in the rules for awarding scholarships to young researchers.

Description of tasks:

Participation in the research project titled: “Machine-learning a new generation of force fields for the atomistic simulations of RNA”, funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) in Kraków, OPUS 29 call, project number UMO-2025/57/B/ST4/03900. The project aims to develop a systematic approach to creating a new type of atomistic energy models for nucleic acid simulations, based on the integration of experimental and quantum-chemical data.

Project description available at: https://www.ncn.gov.pl/sites/default/files/listy-rankingowe/2025-03-17-mmatyB0da2/streszczenia/652984-en.pdf

Main research tasks:

• Implementation of machine learning-based interatomic potentials in software for training and simulating biomolecular systems;

• Integration of the planned model training methodology;

• Implementation and execution of validation tests;

• Software development and data analysis;

• Participation in preparing scientific publications presenting project results;

• Presentation of research results at conferences and seminars.

NCN call type: OPUS-ST

Application deadline: April 23, 2026

Competition resolution date: April 30, 2026

Application method: Email to: milosz.wieczor@pg.edu.pl

Documents must be submitted by April 23, 2026, to the project leader at: milosz.wieczor@pg.edu.pl. Email subject: OPUS Scholarship holder / Student / PhD candidate

Employment conditions:

1. The scholarship is granted for the duration of project tasks from the moment of signing the scholarship agreement (expected in October 2026); duration: 48 months, corresponding to the doctoral study period;

2. Monthly scholarship: 2500 PLN (independent of the base scholarship provided by the doctoral school).

Required documents:

1. CV;

2. Documentation of scientific achievements (scholarships, awards, publications, preprints, conference presentations);

3. Master’s diploma OR certificate of enrollment in second-cycle studies with information on semester and study duration;

4. Other documents confirming additional qualifications.

Additional information:

The scholarship committee will evaluate applications in accordance with the NCN Regulations on Awarding Scientific Scholarships in Research Projects and select the successful candidate. Results will be published on the Faculty of Chemistry website of Gdańsk University of Technology: https://chem.pg.edu.pl/ The committee reserves the right to conduct interviews with selected candidates, request additional documents, or not to select a candidate.

Consent clause (to be included in CV):

“I consent to the processing of my personal data contained in this document for the purposes of the recruitment process in accordance with the Act of 10 May 2018 on the protection of personal data (Journal of Laws 2018, item 1000) and in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (GDPR).”