Job opening: Marie Curie PhD fellowship – Vibrational chiral response on chiral surfaces

SCM is a scientific software company located in Amsterdam. We are passionate about computational chemistry, and our customers are active in academia, government labs and industry worldwide studying various fields of chemistry and materials science. 

We are looking for a PhD student who will research and develop methods for the simulation of vibrational spectroscopies of chiral molecules on surfaces, as well as devise ways of focusing the calculation on the most relevant parts of the spectrum, allowing for the treatment of larger systems.

The work will build upon and improve SCM’s existing methods for computational chemistry, implementing and validating techniques for the Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulation of vibrational spectroscopic properties of chiral molecules interacting with a surface within the AMS program and to (i) develop methods for the calculation of IR and VCD for chiral molecules on surfaces, (ii) develop methods for calculating only the most relevant part of the spectrum to improve computational efficiency, (iii) interact with the characterization teams by computing nanocluster structural and spectroscopic properties directly accessible to experiment, (iv) interact with all the teams – both under laboratory and industrial set-up conditions – and synergize with experimental/industrial partners who require the developed computational tools in their own research .

For example, one challenge to address will be preparing nanoclusters and measuring IR and VCD spectroscopy to support interpretation and understanding, in collaboration with experimental teams.

The position is part of the European Commission-funded CHIRALNANOMAT doctoral network, a multi-disciplinary project between 9 laboratories and 6 companies in 8 European countries.

The position is open to

• MSc graduates with an interest in chemistry/physics or related fields
• Theoretical chemistry/physics MSc graduates with an interest in quantum chemistry or molecular physics.

CHIRALNANOMAT Network, supervision & training

The CHIRALNANOMAT network project contains a mix of 13 experimental and theoretical research-oriented PhD projects.

The candidate will be hosted at SCM but enrolled in a PhD program at VU Amsterdam.

• PhD supervisor: Prof. Lucas Visscher, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Co-supervisor: Dr. Franco Egidi, Software for Chemistry and Materials B.V.
• Planned secondments: 3 months at Università Degli Studi Di Trieste for training on DFT modeling of chiral systems. As well as a 1-month training at Technische Universitaet Wien for cross-validation of theoretical predictions of nanocluster activity and acquiring experience in testing catalysts at academic lab-scale level.
• Research actions are organized in conjunction with local and network-wide training, including academic and industrial specialist courses, transferable skills training, (international) workshops and training-through-research. Training events are dispersed throughout the timeline of the project, providing an ideal platform for the researchers to flourish and become future leaders in academic or industrial research.

Requirements

• Proven software development skills, combined with a thorough knowledge of either chemical reaction networks, density functional theory, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, or machine-learning methods.
• Being able to grasp complex mathematical ideas in scientific publications, improve them, and convert them into clean and efficient source code.
• MSc degree in Physics/Chemistry/Machine Learning or related subjects.
• Not being in possession of a PhD degree.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in the English language.
• EU mobility rules apply: Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date.
• The start date should be between January 1st, 2026, and August 31st, 2026.

Desirable additional knowledge & experience

• Working knowledge of Fortran(90) and Python.
• General programming skills (UNIX, debugging, etc.).
• Team player, with good two-way communication skills, highly self-motivated and able to work independently with excellent time management skills. 

What we offer

SCM offers an informal working atmosphere in a small team of approx. 30 PhD-level researchers and scientific software developers from various nationalities and backgrounds. We offer our employees 34 paid holidays per year and flexible working hours, as well as occasional remote work options. All employees are enrolled in the ABP pension fund.

The PhD fellowships will consist of an initial 3-year full-time position, with a possible extension. Salary conditions, travel/mobility allowances, and benefits will follow the attractive EU amounts for Researchers in the HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01 call.

• Supergross monthly living allowance: € 4475, – / month, which includes the 11.6% extra due to the country correction coefficient of 111.6% for The Netherlands for the entire period.
• Additional monthly mobility allowance of € 710, – / month.
• Additional monthly family allowance of € 660, – / month for researchers who have a family (regardless of whether the family will move with the researcher or not).

In addition, the EU provides funding for training and transfer of knowledge expenses to the institutes. Tax benefits (significant parts of salary and/or allowances paid tax-free) may be applicable in The Netherlands (depending on circumstances) for a successful candidate from abroad.

About SCM

Software for Chemistry & Materials B.V., SCM, is an independent spin-off company of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. SCM develops, maintains, and markets the Amsterdam Modeling Suite, used by computational (quantum) chemists, physicists and materials scientists in academia and industry. It includes the Amsterdam Density Functional (ADF) molecular DFT program, the periodic structure DFT program BAND, the reactive molecular dynamics program ReaxFF, approximate DFT (DFTB) software, Machine-Learning Potentials and Classical Force Fields and the COSMO-RS module for thermodynamics of mixed liquids, as well as their respective graphical interfaces and python scripting environments and workflows.

SCM has its office space on the VU campus, at walking distance from the Amsterdam-Zuid train station. We extensively collaborate with many academic groups and household-name industrial partners worldwide. SCM closely interacts and is located on the same campus as the well-known Theoretical Chemistry (TC) professors at the VU: Visscher, Bickelhaupt and Fonseca Guerra as well as emeritus professor Baerends. The TC group consists of about 30 people, including a very international mix of PhD students, postdocs, and guests.

SCM is a science-focused company which has been around for over 25 years. It is financially solid, growing, and profitable. SCM is located in Amsterdam, the very lively, enjoyable and internationally oriented capital of The Netherlands, consistently ranking high in Mercer’s annual Quality of Living surveys.

Eligibility

SCM is an equal opportunity employer; we encourage interested candidates to apply even if you think you don’t ‘tick all the boxes’. SCM will recruit & hire without regard to nationality, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Applying

Job applications can only be sent by filling out the form below. The application procedure will continue to run until the position is filled and new applications are welcomed. Applications should contain:

• CV
• Details on the coursework and university background
• Letter explaining the detailed motivation for applying
• List of scientific publications
• Clear and complete summary of your programming and method development experience (as opposed to using standard existing software).

References may be requested at a later stage.