A scholarship is available in the Materials Science and Nanotechnology graduate course at the University of Milan-Bicocca to carry out a graduate study project on: "Bi-metallic nanoclusters for catalytic biomass upgrade: investigating model systems at the atomic scale."

This project concerns the computational study of the structure, physical properties and chemical reactivity of subnanometric bimetallic clusters supported on oxide thin films. In particular, the deposition of selected small organic molecules relevant to the upgrade of biomasses will be simulated. The project will be carried out in close contact with experimental groups performing STM, XPS and HREELS measurements. Density Functional Theory calculations will be carried out along with molecular dynamics simulations to predict the structure and the catalytic properties of the metal subnanometric aggregates and unravel their interaction with the support. 

Qualified applicants must have a Master degree (or equivalent) in physics, chemistry, materials science or materials engineering. Previous experience with DFT or MD calculations, knowledge of Unix environment and simulation packages are very welcome. 

Interested applicants are recommended  to get in touch with Dr. Sergio Tosoni ([email protected]) to obtain all information on the application and selection procedure.

Deadline: October 15th