TERMS AND CONDITIONS RESEARCH INITIATION FELLOWSHIPS (2 nd Call) IMDEA Materials Institute (Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies of Materials) is a nonprofit independent research organization promoted by the Madrid regional government (Comunidad de Madrid) to perform research in Materials Science and Engineering. IMDEA Materials Institute belongs to the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies network, a new institutional framework created to foster social and economic growth in the region of Madrid by promoting research of excellence and technology transfer to industry in a number of strategic areas (water, food, energy, materials, nanoscience, networks and software). IMDEA Materials Institute is committed to three main goals: excellence in Materials Science and Engineering research, technology transfer to industry to increase competitiveness and maintain technological leadership, and attraction of talented researchers from all over the world to Madrid to work in an international and interdisciplinary environment. Following these objectives, IMDEA Materials Institute launches this call for the recruitment of young university undergraduates and Master students who wish to carry out a three month research internship (between June and September 2015) in an international and multidisciplinary environment under the supervision of a senior scientist. 1. ANNOUNCEMENT IMDEA Materials Institute announces Research Initiation Fellowships for undergraduate students in the following topics: 1. New generation high performance fire safe polymers and nanocomposites Flammability is an intrinsic nature for most polymeric materials, but it brings high fire risk to the society. The aim of this work is to develop next generation high performance fire safe polymers and nanocomposites by using multifunctional nanomaterials, eco-benign fire retardant materials, including innovative chemical design, advanced polymer processing and varied fire tests. Also, this research aims to understand the fire behaviors and fire retardant mechanisms of these new fire safe materials by using the state of the art techniques. IMDEA Materials Institute has full facilities to carry out this research with success, such as polymer processing, functionalization of nanomaterials, fire testing, etc. Want to do a most challenging, but very valuable research? Just join us.
2. Design and characterization of a novel cermet. The goal of this investigation is the design of a new WC/FeCr cermet by a powder metallurgy route. The solubility of the Cr element in WC will be assess. The route followed will include mechanical alloying of the powders in a planetary mill and subsequent consolidation by field assisted hot pressing. The researcher will learn to use different advanced microstructural characterization techniques and to analyze some of the mechanical properties of the sintered material. 3. Development of high performance duplex stainless steels by the powder route. By using advanced forming technologies to obtain full density materials from powder raw materials, ferritic-austenitic steel will be developed. Fine grain powders of two different stainless steels grades will consolidated by field assisted hot pressing and fully characterized. The student will develop manufacturing skills and knowledge about mechanical properties and metallography (optical and scanning electron microscopy). 4. Formability of quenched and partitioned steels. Quenched and partitioned steel is a recently developed kind of low alloyed material with multiphase microstructure containing meta-stable retained austenite, which is considered beneficial because the transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) phenomenon during deformation can contribute to formability and energy absorption. The main objective of the present work is to study the effect of microstructure of quenched and partitioned steels on their formability. This research is framed within the collaborative project with our partners from Manresa Technology Center (CTM). 5. Damage characterization be X-ray computed tomography The understanding of materials, animals, fossils, objects, etc. has gradually increased aided by the development of methods that provide as complete and unbiased description of microstructure as possible. From the 3D microstructure, quantitative information in three dimensions can be retrieved using methodologies based on image analysis techniques. 3D data provides access to some very important geometric and topological quantities such us size, shape, orientation distribution of individual features and that of their local neighbourhoods, connectivity between features and network, composition, etc. Some of these quantities cannot be determined a priori from classical stereological methods that use only 2D images or at the best only semi-quantitatively estimations are reached. Besides, the possibility to conduct in situ 3D characterization of dynamic experiments is
expanding our view on fluid flow in porous systems, metal micromechanics or the architecture of food texture, to name a few. In this project, the deformation mechanism and mechanical properties of HPDC AZ31 alloy will be examined using in situ observation of the bulk specimens using synchrotron X-ray microtomography. 6. Atomistic simulation of materials The student will learn, use and/or develop computer programs to perform virtual processing of materials from an atomistic point of view and to understand and obtain physical properties of materials. We focus mainly on microelectronic and energy applications, and use Molecular Dynamics and Kinetic Monte Carlo algorithms to study the evolution of defects inside crystalline metals and semiconductors. 7. Nanomaterials for energy harvesting This project involves hands on experience in the synthesis of new materials based on combinations of metal oxide semiconductors and nanocarbons, their characterization by advanced techniques (HRTEM, Raman spectroscopy, photo/cathodeluminesence) and the fabrication of small devices. 8. Nano-Architecture and Materials Design Want to work with what scientists and engineers call the "wonder material" (graphene) and the "world strongest fibers" (carbon nanotubes)? Join the Nano-Architecture and Materials Design laboratory for a summer internship. In this short research project you will produce and use non-conventional nano-structures. As the main purpose of these nano-structures is to make stronger and more versatile materials for the aerospace and robotic industry, we will test the mechanical behavior, the electrical and functional properties of this novel nanomaterials. 9. Design, testing and simulation of advanced composites Advanced composite materials based on laminated plies of unidirectional glass and carbon fibres are being extensively used in the aeronautic sector. Although these materials promise large weight savings as the result of their high specific mechanical properties (elastic and strength), their application to aeronautical structures requires high level of engineering to work around issues related to stress concentrations. Two main sources of stress concentrations are ply interfaces, prone to delamination, holes for fasteners, or impact events likely to cause matrix damage and fibre failure. The fellow's project would
be to design, test and simulate, by means of advanced finite elements, specimens that are representative of these situations for the purpose of composite materials design. IMDEA Materials has excellent experimental and computational resources that would allow the fellow to conduct this project with success. 10. Solidification Processing and Engineering Development of high temperature structural materials: Ni/Co-based superalloys for aeroengine applications, intermetallics for the next generation of turbine blades. Synthesis and electrochemical processing of metallic nanowires. Development of high-throughput techniques for accelerated screening of materials properties. 11. Integrated modeling techniques for materials design The interdisciplinary research line aims at integrating different modern modeling techniques, including molecular dynamics, computational thermodynamics (i.e. CALPHAD), high throughput diffusion research & modeling, mesoscale model of microstructure (i.e. Landau theory and phase field model), for microstructure control and novel metallic materials design. Candidates must select and rank up to three research topics that they are interested in. The 2 nd call for applications opens on February 18 th 2015 and ends on March 22 nd 2015. 2. APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS Research Initiation fellowships at IMDEA Materials Institute are intended for undergraduate university students in their last year and master students in any scientific discipline (physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, etc.) or engineering from any nationality. To be eligible for the fellowship, the interested candidate must fill the electronic application form available at http://www.materials.imdea.org/open-positions/researchinitiation-fellowships. The form should be submitted via e-mail to jobs.materials@imdea.org before 14:00 PM (GMT+1) on March 22 nd 2015 together with the following documentation: Academic record. CV.
Copy of the ID card or equivalent document for the European Union residents or resident card in case of a non European Union citizen. 3. FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION AND DURATION A gross stipend of 600 per month The fellowships will have a maximum duration of 3 months between June and September 2015. They are awarded for full time training. 4. FELLOWS' RESPONSIBILITIES The awarded students accept the regulations and conditions of the research initiation fellowship as well as those that IMDEA Materials Institute will establish for the student, the technical supervision, and the justification of the public funds received. Fellowships will come into effect when awarded students join the research laboratory. Incorporation at a later date will require the authorization of IMDEA Materials Institute. Failure to do so will be understood as resignation and will result in the withdrawal of all rights. Awarded students are required to submit a report within one month of completing the fellowship. The final report should describe the work undertaken and must be signed by the research supervisor. Awarded students are required to do a public presentation of their work of 10-15 minutes at the end of their internship. Awarded students will acknowledge the support from these fellowships in any publications and/or presentations of the research activities supported by the fellowship. Any infringement of these conditions will result in the cancellation of an award already made without prejudice to any other legal action which may be taken. 5. PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION In accordance with Article 5 of the Personal Data Protection Act 15/1999, we inform you of the following: a) All personal details obtained in the fellowship application and in the enclosed documentation provided along with the application will be added to a file owned by IMDEA Materials Institute, with registered address at C/ Eric Kandel, 2, Getafe 28906. b) IMDEA Materials Institute will only include the information that has been submitted voluntarily by the holder of such information and that is considered necessary for the candidate selection process.
c) This information shall be processed for the following purposes: To analyze the candidate's suitability and be able to carry out a selection process for awarding the fellowship. To ensure that the candidate meets the requirements during the fellowship period. To make the relevant payments if the fellowship is awarded. So that their name, photograph and comments may be published on the IMDEA Materials Institute's website, where they may be freely consulted by the public, with a view to informing the names of the recipients of the fellowships awarded by the IMDEA Materials Institute. d) Said information will be dealt with to determine the suitability of the candidate and to perform the selection process for possible awarding of the fellowships. The owner of the application information and of the annexed documentation gives his/her consent for this information to be dealt with in the aforementioned conditions. The owner of the information may exercise at no cost the right to access, modify and cancel or any other right recognized by current legislation regarding his or her personal data, in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act (Act 15/1999) and any other regulations that develop the contents of said Act. To do so, the candidate must send a request in writing to the file officer -IMDEA Materials Institute (Ref. LOPD), C/ Eric Kandel, 2, Getafe 28906- indicating "Personal Data Protection" and include a copy of his/her identity card or passport. The documentation provided by the fellowship candidate to IMDEA Materials Institute will be archived under conditions of confidentiality.