→ Welcome to the EPR group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research!

Biological and synthetic soft matter has a remarkable ability to self-assemble into larger, complex and even functional structures solely using non-covalent interactions (e.g. electrostatic and hydrophobic forces). The research group of Dr. Dariush Hinderberger uses electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy as its main research tool to study soft matter from the underlying fundamental interactions to more applied questions. The research has gained a special focus on complex biomedical questions (e.g. disordered protein arangements) and applications (e.g. smart systems for drug delivery).
EPR spectroscopy, a magnetic resonance method that is sensitive to molecular motions from the pico- to microsecond regime and to distances between 0.1 and ~8 nanometers, is complemented by other methods of physical investigation like NMR spectroscopy and electron microscopy and by synthetic chemistry, which allows a unique approach to study this class of complex materials.
In case of any questions you can contact us.

We have a variety of different research projects for PhD-students, postdocs, master's/diploma students or undergraduate research assistants!


see more details if you are interested »

 

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Applications for PhD-students are always welcome! We are constantly looking for motivated persons with a master's degree (or equivalent) in chemistry or any other natural science (biology, pharmacy, materials science, physics etc.). PhD-studentships in our group are concerned with the investigation of soft matter mainly using sophisticated methods of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.

We also welcome applications for postdoctoral positions! Prerequisite is a PhD and prior knowledge of either magnetic resonance spectroscopy or materials-oriented chemistry.

For undergraduate students (chemistry, physics etc.) we offer the possibility to gain research experience (e.g. in chemical synthesis, spectroscopy) as undergraduate research assistants.

An overview of a large part of our current research activities can be found under the "projects" link. The EPR group is part of Prof. H. W. Spiess' polymer spectroscopy group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and has commercial state of the art CW- and pulse X-band and W-band spectrometers as well as a homebuilt pulse S-band spectrometer.

In case you are interested in joining our group or have any questions please contact Dr. Dariush Hinderberger.


EPR group

epART by Dennis Kurzbach