PUBLIC NOTICE

Post-Doctoral Researcher Position (Chemistry) at the Istanbul Kultur University, Istanbul, Türkiye - TÜBİTAK 2247-B TUNVIB-Bridge Project

I - Reference, Place of Work and Fellowship:
A full-time post-doctoral researcher position (Ref: TUNVIB-Bridge-PD) is available at the Istanbul Kultur University (IKU, Türkiye), IKU SPECTRA, within the project “Bridging Quantum Tunneling Reactivity from Cryogenic Matrices to Ambient Conditions” (TUNVIB-Bridge), funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) under the 2247-B European Research Council (ERC) Support Program (Project No. 1199B472600801), Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Rui Fausto.

The position is offered for the whole duration of the project (24 months). The post-doctoral researcher will be supported by a TÜBİTAK post-doctoral fellowship of 43,500 TL per month, paid by TÜBİTAK in accordance with the 2247-B Program rules and the TÜBİTAK BİDEB fellowship regulations (the fellowship amount is subject to any update decided by TÜBİTAK). The stated amount corresponds to the total employment cost of the position, i.e., it is inclusive of all taxes, social security contributions and any other legal deductions or charges, where applicable. The fellowship will start upon the signature of the project contract with TÜBİTAK; the exact start date will be communicated to the selected candidate in due time.

II - Position Objectives, Admission Requirements and Skills:
The applicant will develop his/her work according to the objectives of the TUNVIB-Bridge project.

Position Objectives: TUNVIB-Bridge aims to provide the first proof-of-concept that quantum mechanical tunneling (QMT)-controlled and vibrationally-directed chemical reactivity can be translated from cryogenic environments to temperatures approaching room temperature. The project uses two complementary experimental platforms - xenon and nitrogen cryogenic matrices (4-60 K) and highly viscous perfluoropolyether (PFPE) media at room temperature - and focuses on triplet nitrenes generated from aryl azides, addressing C-H bond activation and hydrogen-transfer reactions leading to valuable heterocycles (e.g., lactams and isoxazoles) and QMT-assisted C-N bond formation.

The post-doctoral researcher will work mainly in:
•    WP1 - Synthesis of the nitrene precursor azides: design and multistep synthesis of a library of (mainly fluorinated) aryl azides - phenyl azides bearing ortho formyl, OH, SH or amino substituents, 2-formylfuran/2-formylthiophene azides and 2-(2-phenylethyl)phenyl azides - including the development of new variants of literature procedures, the preparation of isotopically labelled analogues (deuterated, ¹³C- and ¹⁵N-labelled) when required, and the purification and structural characterization of the products. Synthetic work is carried out under inert atmosphere and protected from light.
•    WP2 - Cryogenic matrix-isolation experiments and calculations: participation in matrix-isolation studies of the synthesized precursors in Xe and N₂ matrices (UV photolysis, narrowband IR excitation, FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopy, kinetic measurements) and in the supporting quantum-chemical calculations (DFT, TD-DFT, tunneling rate calculations).
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Admission Requirements and Skills: Applicants should demonstrate the professional qualifications and overall well-being necessary to fulfil the role’s demands. The candidates shall:
•    hold a PhD in Chemistry (Organic Chemistry) or a closely related field, obtained by the start date of the fellowship;
•    have strong, demonstrated hands-on experience in multistep organic synthesis, including work under inert atmosphere (Schlenk line / glovebox), purification techniques and structural characterization of organic compounds;
•    have experience, or be able to demonstrate the capacity to work safely, with sensitive and potentially hazardous compounds (e.g., organic azides, fluorinated reagents);
•    have a good command of English, both written and spoken;
•    meet the eligibility conditions for TÜBİTAK post-doctoral fellows established in the 2247-B Program and the TÜBİTAK BİDEB fellowship regulations (including working full-time on the project and not receiving another fellowship that is incompatible with it during the same period), and register in the TÜBİTAK ARBİS system before the appointment.
The following will be considered as advantages: experience with reactive intermediates (nitrenes, carbenes) and/or photochemistry; knowledge of vibrational (IR/Raman) and UV-Vis spectroscopy; experience with matrix isolation, vacuum and cryogenic techniques; familiarity with quantum-chemical calculations (e.g., Gaussian, DFT/TD-DFT).
The candidates should be highly motivated, with a collaborative mindset, and eager to work on a combined experimental-theoretical project. The successful candidate will be expected to present his/her work at scientific conferences and take the lead in preparing peer-reviewed publications. Therefore, excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential.

III - Application:

Applications are to be sent by e-mail to the TUNVIB-Bridge Project Team (iku-spectra@iku.edu.tr), with the subject line “TUNVIB-Bridge-PD Application”, exclusively in digital portable document format (pdf), with the exception of the documents referred to in III.5 that can be delivered in other digital formats. If any of the works/papers submitted contains classified information, revealing trade or industrial secrets or literary, artistic or scientific property secrets, candidates must clearly indicate that for each document; otherwise, those works/papers can be freely accessed by any of the other applicants when consulting the tender records.
Applications have to be received within 15 days after publication of this notice, i.e., until 25.11.2026.

Mandatory documents to be delivered:

III.1. Curriculum Vitae (English), duly dated and signed. The Curriculum Vitae shall include a foreword with a summary of the professional activity of the candidate that clearly demonstrates that the candidate specializes in the scientific areas for which this tender is open. The candidate’s Curriculum Vitae shall be structured in order to separately respond to the following evaluation items:
A.    Authoring or co-authoring of articles in indexed journals, books or book chapters of relevant international scientific interest, related to the scientific area for which the tender is open;
B.    Experimental expertise in organic synthesis and in the purification and characterization of organic compounds (techniques mastered, types of compounds and reactions handled);
C.    Experience in spectroscopy, photochemistry, reactive intermediates, cryogenic/matrix-isolation techniques and/or computational chemistry;
D.    Participation in research projects, research stays and scientific meetings;
E.    Scientific mentoring of students, awards and other relevant academic activities.

III.2. Copy of the PhD diploma and other qualification certificates (certified English translation, if not issued in English or Turkish).

III.3. Motivation letter (English, maximum 2 pages) describing the candidate’s interest in the position and how his/her background fits the objectives of the TUNVIB-Bridge project.

III.4. Separate copies of the 3 most relevant works/papers of the candidate in the scientific field for which this tender is open. In a separate document, the reasons for this choice shall be provided, highlighting the scientific impact of the work and the candidate’s contribution (English).

III.5. Names and contact details of two referees, and any other information considered relevant by the candidate (English).

Demonstrating proofs for the items mentioned in the CV shall be provided (DOIs for publications are enough). Applications that do not comply with the instructions or that fail to meet the tender’s formal requirements, pursuant to the applicable laws and to this Public Notice, will not be accepted. In the same way, if the required documents or papers are submitted outside the established timeframe, the application shall not be accepted.

IV - Selection Methods and Criteria:

The selection methods to be used are approval in absolute merit, evaluation of the candidates’ scientific and curricular background, and, if considered necessary by the selection jury, an interview.

Approval in Absolute Merit: Approval in absolute merit will be given to candidates who hold a curriculum vitae that the jury considers adequate for the position to be filled, namely the merit of their scientific and technical work, as well as their professional experience and training, compatible with the scientific area for which the tender is open, always taking into account for this evaluation the items A to E enumerated in III.1 above.

Evaluation of scientific and curricular background (100% if no interview takes place; 60% if an interview is held): Evaluation of the scientific and curricular background will be undertaken by the selection jury following the items A to E enumerated in III.1 above, to which the following weights will be given: A: 35%, B: 35%, C: 15%, D: 10%, E: 5%.

Interview (40%, if held): The interview will serve to elucidate the jury on issues raised by the analysis of the CV of the candidate and to evaluate additional skills, including motivation, laboratory safety awareness and facility of expression in English. Interviews may be held online.

V - Selection Process:

1st Meeting of the Jury: to verify the requirements for admission of the applications, and to perform the evaluation of the candidates that meet the formal requirements. For the evaluation of the candidates, the jury starts by deciding on the approval of candidates in absolute merit and then proceeds to evaluate the candidates admitted in absolute merit and prepares the ordered list, which will be the final one in case the jury dispenses with interviews. If the jury decides to interview the candidates, the ordered list will be provisional.

2nd Meeting of the Jury: to conduct the interviews (if held) and prepare the final ordered list of the candidates. This meeting will not be held if the jury decides to dispense with the interviews.

3rd Meeting of the Jury: to decide on eventual appeals.

VI - Ranking and Voting Method:
After the debate on the candidates towards establishing a final deliberation about the ranking, each member of the Jury will present a written document, which will be attached to the meeting minutes, with their individual ranking proposal, based on the selection criteria and evaluation parameters stated in this Public Notice. Throughout the various vote rounds, each member of the Selection Jury must respect his/her proposed ranking.
VI.1. The first vote round is intended to select the candidate to be ranked in the first place. If a candidate obtains more than half of the votes, they shall be placed in the first position. If this is not the case, candidates with no votes shall be eliminated, as well as the candidate with the least votes, provided the latter obtained at least one vote. In the event of more than one candidate being placed in the last position with only one vote, there shall be a vote to decide whom to eliminate. In this vote round, jury members shall vote on the candidate who had the lowest score according to their individual ranking, and the candidate who obtains the most votes shall be eliminated. If a tie persists between two or more candidates, the Chairman of the Jury shall decide which candidate should be eliminated. After this process, the Jury shall vote on the ranking of the remaining candidates. This process is repeated until one of the candidates obtains more than half of the votes for the first place.
VI.2. The candidate placed in the first position shall then be excluded from the next vote round, which shall decide the second place. This process shall be consecutively repeated until all approved candidates are ranked.
VI.3. During the voting of the Selection Jury abstentions are not allowed.

VII - Notification of the Candidates:

The final report with the results of the tender will be notified to applicants by e-mail. Candidates may, if they wish, appeal against the ranking list within 10 days following the final notification. If appeals are received, they will be evaluated by the Selection Jury, which will then reach the final decision, which will be definitive and subject to homologation by the Rector of the University. The appointment of the selected candidate as fellow is subject to the approval of TÜBİTAK.
If the selected candidate withdraws or does not meet the TÜBİTAK fellowship conditions, the position may be offered to the next candidate in the final ordered list.
The administrative records of the tender may be consulted by the candidates, upon previous appointment, requested by e-mail sent to the TUNVIB-Bridge Project Team (iku-spectra@iku.edu.tr).

VIII - Selection Jury:

The Selection Jury of this tender is constituted as follows:
Chairman:
Prof. Dr. Rui Fausto M. R. S. Lourenço, Principal Investigator of TUNVIB-Bridge, Professor, Istanbul Kultur University.
Jury Members:
•    Prof. Dr. Gülce Öğrüç Martıns Rıbeıro Da Sılva Lourenço, Senior Researcher of TUNVIB-Bridge, Director of IKU SPECTRA, Professor, Istanbul Kultur University.
•    Prof. Dr. Cláudio M. Nunes, Collaborator of TUNVIB-Bridge, Assistant Professor, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
•    Dr. Licínia Justino Simões, Researcher, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

IX - Dissemination and Final Remarks:

This public notice will be published on the website and LinkedIn account of IKU SPECTRA, the website of Istanbul Kultur University, the Turkish job portal www.kariyer.net.
The Istanbul Kultur University, as host institution, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities between men and women in access to employment and professional development, and acts to prevent each and every kind of discrimination. Therefore, no one can be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or immune from any duty on account of, in particular, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender, marital status, family, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic or racial origin, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership.
This recruitment process complies with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The selected researcher will be treated as a professional and as an integral part of the host institution, and will be provided with appropriate working conditions for research, including for researchers with disabilities, in accordance with the applicable national legislation and the TÜBİTAK regulations. These include working conditions which allow both women and men researchers to combine family and work, children and career. The code of conduct to be followed is that of the Istanbul Kultur University.
Istanbul Kultur University, November 2026