This opportunity focuses on exploiting DNA nanotechnology to self-assemble dye molecules into 3-dimensional networks that host delocalized excitons as a test bed for creating excitonic circuits and accessing quantum-coherent effects for Navy applications in solar energy harvesting, chem/bio sensing, molecular optoelectronics and quantum information science. Realizing such applications requires tailoring the structural properties of DNA-scaffolded dye networks to optimize its photophysical response. Therefore, our group employs multidisciplinary basic research that includes synthetic chemistry for dye molecule engineering, DNA scaffold design to create purposeful dye networks, steady-state, time-resolved, and single-molecule spectroscopy to characterize optical properties, energy transfer, and excited state relaxation processes in the dye networks, and atomistic molecular dynamics simulation and theoretical modeling to provide key physical insights. This research opportunity offers a postdoctoral scientist to gain new skills in range of chem-bio and physics areas, while providing a stimulating environment to contribute their own unique skills. Historically, our group, consisting of chemists, molecular biologists, and physicists, has been successful in publishing our work in high-impact scientific journals, a few of which are mentioned below.

1. Meares, A.A.; et al. Control of Indodicarbocyanine Dimer Geometry Using Variable-Length Linkers to DNA Scaffolds. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2025, 147 (32), 28651-28664. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c00128 

2. Mathur, D.; et al. Pursuing excitonic energy transfer with programmable DNA-based optical breadboards. Chemical Society Reviews 2023, 52 (22), 7848-7948. DOI: 10.1039/D0CS00936A

3. Díaz, S. A.; et al. Towards control of excitonic coupling in DNA-templated Cy5 aggregates: the principal role of chemical substituent hydrophobicity and steric interactions. Nanoscale 2023. DOI: 10.1039/D2NR05544A

 

DNA nanostructures; Dye molecules; Photonics; Energy transfer; Photophysics; Single molecule spectroscopy;

citizenship

Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents

level

Open to Postdoctoral applicants

Additional Benefits

relocation

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

health insurance

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.