Research associate in chemistry

Organisation/Company Universite de Montpellier Department Human Resources Research Field Chemistry Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Application Deadline 11 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Other EU programme Reference Number 2026-C0011 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

- work environment: The position is based at the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM), a multidisciplinary French research laboratory specializing in materials chemistry (~400 people). The institute is located at the heart of the Pôle Chimie Balard, which positions itself as a centre of excellence, visible and attractive at both the European and international levels, in current areas of chemistry and in major challenges related to economic and sustainable development and societal issues.

The successful candidate will join the GREENTEA project, a national consortium bringing together nine academic partners working at the interface of materials chemistry, robotics, advanced characterization, and artificial intelligence. The project involves close collaborations with CEA Paris-Saclay and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).

- main mission: The successful candidate will have to develop and implement high-throughput solution-based synthesis methods for sulfide thermoelectric materials. He/she will develop synthesis protocols enabling the rapid and reproducible exploration of a large number of compositions, relying in particular on solution chemistry and automated high-throughput synthesis approaches.

The position will involve optimizing synthesis conditions, preparing composition libraries, performing their structural and chemical characterization, and analyzing the resulting data to identify the most promising compositions and synthesis conditions. The successful candidate will work closely with the teams involved in materials modelling, artificial intelligence, and materials property characterization, contributing to an iterative workflow linking prediction, synthesis, and characterization.

- activities:

• develop high-throughput solution synthesis protocols;
• perform structural characterization using WAXS and synchrotron X-ray techniques;
• use machine learning and Bayesian optimization to guide synthesis and composition selection;
• scale up the most promising materials for complete thermoelectric characterization.
• share results (high-impact scientific publications and presentations);
• supervise graduate/undergraduate students and active participation in the GREENTEA collaborative network.

The net monthly salary is between €2,200 and €2,380

The contract duration is 15 months

Requirements

Research Field Chemistry Education Level PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

• solid-state chemistry or functional materials;
• X-ray diffraction and structural characterization;
• thermoelectric materials; (desirable but not mandatory)
• machine learning or data analysis; (desirable but not mandatory)
• scientific programming (Python). (desirable but not mandatory)

Additional Information

Selection process

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM) Country France Geofield