Bone is a mineral-organic composite made up of collagen fibers mineralized by calcium phosphate nanocrystals with an apatitic structure. In the field of modeling at the atomic/molecular scale, very few teams work on calcium phosphates. 

This PhD thesis is based on quantum computations and concerns the modeling of apatitic surfaces aimed at mimicking the bone mineral, and then the adsorption of model (bio)molecules.The development of numerical models will be carried out using quantum physico-chemical tools (Density Functional Theory, DFT) which are the most suitable for understanding physico-chemical interactions for apatites of biomedical interest

Laboratory: CIRIMAT laboratory ("Interuniversity Center for Materials Research and Engineering", UMR CNRS 5085)

Applicants: The candidate should have a Master’s degree in chemistry, chemistry-physics, or material science, with a specialization in theoretical chemistry or physics, or equivalent obtained in 2021 or in 2022 and must have a solid training in physical and theoretical chemistry (DFT). 

Applications should be addressed to [email protected], with a CV, a cover letter describing the research interests and motivation, and the names of two reference persons (all in one PDF file) before 25 April 2022.