Open positions
- Postdoc positions.
A new postdoc position will be open from July 2026 for the EIC project FAST.
Looking for a highly motivated person skilled in computer simulations, code optimization, and data processing.
Experiences with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations or thin film growth are welcome.
Salary ~2500 EUR/month
Please contact us for more details.
(pavel.kocan@matfyz.cuni.cz)
A new postdoc position will be open from 2025/2026 for the ERC project SPOT.
Experience with cryogenic STM, magnetic fields or combining STM with ligh is advantage
Salary 2500-3000 EUR/month
Please contact us if you are interested.
(martin.setvin@matfyz.cuni.cz)
- PhD positions.
A new fully granted Ph.D. position will be open from 2026/2027 for the EIC project FAST.
Looking for a motivated student with experience in experiments in the field of surface science to conduct AFM experiments with q-Plus sensor under UHV conditions.
A background in solid state physics is required. Start of the study at October 2026, application deadline March 31st 2026.
Please contact us immediately if you are interested.
(pavel.kocan@matfyz.cuni.cz)
There will be two postions openings focused on polarons (ERC SPOT).
One position starting from October 2025 (applications by April 2025), one starting in March 2026.
Studying polarons in real space by nc-AFM, growth of polaronic materials in desired composition and morphology.
Please contact us for more details (martin.setvin@matfyz.cuni.cz).
- Master/bachelor/project students.
Undergraduate students are always welcome.
Possibility to get financial support from our projects.
We can negotiate an Erasmus stay in one of our friendly groups abroad (see "Collaborations").
Funding
The research in our group is funded from different sources depending on various ongoing research projects.
- Functionalised Activated Sapphire Thin-disk, FAST (P. Kocan, M. Setvin, I. Ostadal)
EIC (European Innovation Council) grant, part of international consortium.
0.33 MEur for 3 years for our team
Our team will be responsible for kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of PLD growth of doped sapphire and for atomic-scale observation of the surface by AFM.
- ERC consolidator SPOT - excellence in fundamental research.
2 M EUR for 5 years (2025-2030).
The project SPOT (Single Polaron Trapping) focuses on charges self-trapped in ionic lattices.
We have developed a method to see single polarons directly in real space, using nc-AFM.
Polarons affect many materials properties and stand behind exotic phenomena.
- Polaron Tracking (M. Setvin, P. Kocan).
ERC CZ - project funded by MSMT.
0.6 M EUR for 2 years (2023-2024).
MSMT partially funds projects that passesd to the second round of evaluation in ERC, but did not receive the funding.
The task of this project is to prove that noncontact AFM is capable of imaging polarons in real space.
- Quantum Materials for Sustainable Technologies, QM4ST (M. Setvin, P. Sobotik).
Provided by MSMT under the programme OP JAK, Excellent Research.
20M EUR for 5 years provided to 4 research institutes in Pilsen, Prague and Brno.
5 research groups from Charles University are involved, the total funding for CU is 4M EUR.
The project is focused on designing new materials with tailored properties.
- POLAR_PEC (Jesus Redondo).
GACR postdoc project.
240 k EUR for 3 years (1.1.2022-31.12.2024).
2 years abroad (San Sebastian, Spain) and 1 year in Prague.
Focused on hematite Fe2O3 and alumina Al2O3.