PhD opportunity in Prof. Wenxin Wang’s lab, University College Dublin (UCD) 4-year Full-time PhD Scholarships

PhD opportunity in Prof. Wenxin Wang’s lab, University College Dublin (UCD) 4-year Full-time PhD Scholarships 

Overview of the Post:

Prof Wenxin Wang’s Lab, located in the Charles Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland, is seeking motivated, passionate candidates to embark on PhD doctoral studies in polymer chemistry/organic chemistry related fields.

Organization: University College Dublin (UCD)

Post: PhD student

Workplace: Prof. Wenxin Wang’s lab, The Charles Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, UCD, Ireland

Post Treatment and Cultivation Mode: This is a 4-year full time position, with a stipend of €18,600 per annum and full PhD fees contribution. PhD students are encouraged to go to internationally renowned research groups in their research field for collaborative research study.

Research Field: Polymer Chemistry/Organic Chemistry

Group Website: http://www.wenxinwang.group/

Introduction to Prof Wenxin Wang and Wang’s lab:

Prof. Wenxin Wang is a Full Professor in Skin Research and Wound Healing, a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Principal Investigator at the Charles Institute of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University College Dublin (UCD), and a member of UCD Academic Council. He won the highly prestigious “Young Scientist Prize in Regenerative Medicine” in 2010 at TERMIS-EU conference, the “SFI Principal Investigator award” in 2011 and the DEBRA Award for Excellent EB Patient Service in 2014, which highlight his work ethic and achievements. Prof. Wang’s scientific interests are in the areas of biomaterials, stem cell and gene therapy for the treatments of skin wounds, cartilage/bone regeneration, dental tissue regeneration, tissue sealant/adhesive. His scientific contribution and achievements have been recognized both nationally and internationally including over 251 peer-reviewed scientific journal papers (Nat. Commun., Nat. Rev. Chem., Sci. Adv., Angew. Chem., JACS, Chem. Sci., ACS Nano and Nano Letters etc.), 5 book chapters, 36 patents, 174 conference abstracts and presentations, and 123 invited lectures and keynote presentations. Since 2009 he has graduated 27 PhD students and mentored over 29 postdoctoral researchers. His achievements have gained increased interest in the wider public community with publicity media activities (56 times in TV Documentary, Videos and Newspapers), for example in RTE-TV, ‘The Sunday Times’, ‘The Irish Times’, ‘Science Daily’ and ‘Chemistry World’. He has been awarded significant funding (ca. 13.62 million Euros) from different sources, e.g., SFI, Health Research Board (HRB), Irish Research Council (IRC), Enterprise Ireland (EI) and European Union (EU-FP7 & EU Horizon 2020) to support his research activities. Prof. Wang has acted as the symposium convener and chair, the member of organizing committees and the member of the conference advisory board for 34 international conferences and has been selected as an expert reviewer and panel member by 28 international research councils and funding bodies. As the founder, Prof Wang has launched 3 companies - Vornia Ltd (www.vornia.com, acquired by Ashland - a Fortune500 US company in Jan. 2018, renamed as Ashland Specialties Ireland), Blafar Ltd. (www.blafar.com), and Branca Bunús Ltd. (www.brancabunus.com). There three companies currently hire 25 employees in Ireland. Furthermore, he has 30 patents in collaboration with industry partners: Ashland, Amryt Biopharm, Blafar and Branca Bunús, and successfully launched and commercialized 5 newly developed technologies onto the market.

Prof. Wang’s group possesses abundant scientific research funds, complete facilities and well-established platforms for polymer simulation, synthesis, characterization, and related application studies. The research group also has long-term academic exchanges and collaboration relationship with the Top universities in the world, e.g. Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University, and University of Cambridge etc. Among the graduated PhD students, many of them have got Postdoc fellowships in Worldwide Top universities (e.g., Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, University of Washington, and University of Nottingham etc.), In addition, currently, more than 10 of the Postdocs and Scientific Researchers supervised by Prof. Wang have been appointed as (associated) Professor in renowned universities (e.g., University College London, UT Dallas, Cardiff University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhejiang University, Tianjin University and Xi’an Jiaotong University, etc.), or developed their career in internationally well-known enterprises (such as McKinsey & Company - the world's largest strategic consultancy, Ashland - a Fortune500 US company, etc.).

Post Requirements:

1. A Master's degree in Polymer Chemistry / Organic Chemistry or other related fields.

2. A strong passion in Science, in particular, basic theoretical research.

3. A high level of competence in the English language. UCD's minimum English language requirements: An average score of 6.5 over all components and a minimum of 6.0 in each band on the Academic Version/A minimum score of 90 is required in the Internet based TOEFL (iBT) with a score of at least 20 in each section

4. Highly motivated, driven, creative, conscientious, and have the ability to work independently and integrate as part of a team.

5. Healthy, kind, nice, decent, honest, and hard-working.

Application procedure:

If you would like to apply, please send your CV and Personal Statement to wenxin.wang@ucd.ie and jing.lyu@ucd.ie with the subject line ‘PhD application’.

Your application will be judged openly and fairly. We will contact the short-listed candidates for preliminary assessment and following interviews as soon as possible.