Jobs and Prospects, print

N.P. ERNSTING - FEMTOSECOND SPECTROSCOPY

Employment prospects

Our group works at the intersection of chemistry and optical spectroscopy. We want to understand the function of molecular chromophors in biopolymers on an ultrafast time scale, i.e. while molecular or intermolecular vibrations are still in phase. Conversely, we also design functional chromophors for diagnostic purposes. Three lines of research can be covered by our personal and experimental resources:

fs-ps-ns bio-photodynamics: photoreceptors, signal transduction, diagnostics
fluorescent labels coupling to biopolymer	NMR -structure Modelling, Quant. Chem. Molecular Dynamics	fs-transient absorption fs-transient fluorescence ps transient Raman
synthetic bio-organic chemistry	structure analytics of small biopolymers	optical spectroscopy for dynamics of biopolymers

A is headed by Dr. Mahrwald, B by Dr. Mügge in cooperation with Prof. Ernsting, and C by Dr. Kovalenko

In our group, you would work on a topic in one of the three fields A,B,C depending on your interests. But this topic will have counterparts in the other two fields, and we try to engage coworkers there too. In this way your progress is important for the others, and of course you can participate in their activity. It is also possible to acquire expert knowledge in two areas, for example combining synthetic work with quantum chemistry and modelling, or combining fs-transient spectroscopy with molecular dynamics. In each field, new methods are constantly being developed and tested. Cooperations with foreign partners allow for work to be carried out jointly in Berlin and in their laboratories.

Each topic is supervised by an experienced member of the group, and that member will concentrate on one collaboration only. This is done in order to use equipment and lab space efficiently. As a consequence, only a few possibilities for joining the group exist at any given time. We value the harmony and quality of our work above everything and much prefer focus, as compared to broad coverage and growth.

In summary, after your PhD you would be well experienced to apply for jobs where chemistry and optics meet, for example

fluorescent diagnostics,
high-throughput screening,
substance identification at a distance,
biomedical or chemical imaging,
fabrication and process control of opto-electronic materials,
optical computing,
drug binding,
stereoselective chemistry

Research Practical Course (Forschungspraktikum)

takes 4-6 weeks by appointment. Typical projects in areas B, C are:

Measurement of a series of absorption and fluorescence spectra for dyes in solution
Analysis of NMR spectra from duplex DNA (after 6/2007)
Transient fluorescence measurements with optical Kerr gating
Transient absorption measurements
Gas phase spectroscopy
ns transient absorption
Spectrograph construction and adjustment

Open topics for Diploma Thesis

(C) Sub-ps transient fluorescence spectra Tryptophan by optical Kerr gating.
(C) Construction of a spectral interferometer for measuring refractive-index dispersion n(λ).
(C)   Description of spectral evolution: how significant are three-exponential fits?
        (this is a topic from numerical mathematics involving genetic algorithms, deconvolution,
        or maximum entropy methods).

(A) Synthesis of 7-amino-2-cyano-fluorene and aliphatic derivatives.
(A) Synthesis of a mimetic Tryptophan based on N-methyl-6-quinolinium.

(B) Molecular Dynamics simulations of a 12-mer DNA duplex.
(B) NMR structure determination of a 12-mer DNA duplex with a fluorescent label inside.

Software development
NLO signal theory

Employment prospects

Research Practical Course (Forschungspraktikum)

Open topics for Diploma Thesis

Open topics for PhD Thesis