Research Fellow – Soft Functional Materials

About the role

The School of Materials Science and Engineering at NTU is seeking a highly motivated Research Fellow to develop advanced soft functional materials and interfacial systems. The role focuses on designing, synthesising and characterising polymeric and supramolecular materials for applications such as sensing and soft devices.

Key responsibilities

• Design, synthesize and characterise soft functional materials including supramolecular polymers, hydrogels, elastomers and related interfacial materials.
• Develop material systems that control solvation, diffusion and adhesion of solid‑state analytes on soft surfaces.
• Investigate structure‑property relationships governing transport, surface interaction, responsiveness and mechanical performance.
• Design and optimise responsive, self‑healing and reconfigurable materials for interface‑related applications.
• Perform chemical, physical and mechanical characterisation using appropriate analytical techniques.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary researchers to integrate materials into sensing, analytical or soft‑device platforms.
• Assist in manuscript preparation, conference presentations, grant development and reporting.
• Mentor junior researchers and support laboratory management, procurement and equipment coordination.

Required profile

• PhD in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated research experience with polymeric, supramolecular, hydrogel or elastomeric soft materials.
• Strong background in material synthesis, structural design and functional characterisation.
• Experience in areas such as supramolecular chemistry, responsive or self‑healing materials, interfacial engineering or soft bioelectronics is highly desirable.

Required skills

• Polymer synthesis
• Supramolecular chemistry
• Hydrogel fabrication
• Elastomer synthesis
• Mechanical characterisation
• Chemical characterisation
• Structural characterisation