INSTITUT GALIEN PARIS-SACLAY

Job vacancies are advertised below or via the usual channels.

For doctoral and post-doctoral students, if you would like to apply for external funding, please contact the person you would like to work with, enclosing a CV and covering letter with two references.

Link for applying to the position: CNRS job portal

Context

Some cancers cannot be cured by current treatments. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an anticancer radiotherapy modality that could treat such cancers. However current drugs designed for BNCT lack targeting and efficient tumour uptake. Nanomedicine can overcome such hurdles owing to the chemical and physicochemical properties of such drug delivery systems.

Thesis

The aim of this PhD position is to design and develop an innovative formulation of a boron-containing API based on polymeric nanoparticles in order to allow for a more efficient administration, a better accumulation at the tumour site and a smoother clinical translation. The PhD student will be trained to modern synthetic organic and polymer chemistry, and nanoformulation technologies as well as state-of-the-art cellular biology and relevant imaging techniques. Exposure to neutron studies at the Institute Laue Langevin are expected to be organised towards the end of the PhD, which will provide further skills to the PhD student.

The expected innovative results will lead to presentations in national and international conferences as well as publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Duration: 36 months

Relevant publications from the groups: A. Pitto-Barry, Polym Chem 2021; L. Sancey, Life 2021; L. Sancey, Cells, 2020; A. Pitto-Barry, Nature Commun 2014.

Host institutions

This PhD will take place at:

• Institut Galien Paris-Saclay (<20 km from Paris), in the Nanomed team (⁓ 2 years);
• Institute for Advanced Biosciences (in Grenoble), in the Cancer targets and experimental therapeutics team (⁓ 1 year).

The PhD student will be involved in multidisciplinary environments mixing polymer synthesis, nanoformulation, cellular biology, and preclinical cancer models. At the end of the PhD, the student will graduate with a PhD degree from both the Université Paris-Saclay and the Université Grenoble Alpes.

Candidate

Candidates should hold a Master degree in chemistry with a specialisation in polymer chemistry or synthetic chemistry, with excellent theoretical and experimental skills. We are looking for dedicated, curious, and highly motivated candidates, with good communication skills and team spirit. Knowledge in formulation and cellular biology would be highly relevant to the project.

Application

Submit your CV (including the position, names, and emails of two referees), a cover letter motivating your interest in the position, marks from the last two years of studies via the CNRS job portal (using the keyword “matière mole” or “soft matter”).

Enquiries can be made to Anaïs Pitto-Barry (anais.pitto-barry@cnrs.fr) and Lucie Sancey (lucie.sancey@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr)

The project is funded by the CNRS.

The selected candidate is expected to start 1^st of October 2025.

Every year, the IGPS welcomes motivated∙e∙s for an internship in a university laboratory. To apply, contact the person indicated on the internship offer and attach the requested supporting documents. Internship offers are generally made in the autumn.