Open Position: PhD Student
The group is hiring a new PhD student to join the team. Details about the position can be found here. Application deadline is 30th of March 2024.
The project
Wood constitutes an unlimited resource of renewable biomass indispensable for production of sustainable energy and for supply of high quality materials. Molecular understanding of wood formation would provide a new avenue for designing bio-inspired materials with remarkable strength and rigidity. Wood consists of so called secondary cell walls that encase cells in wood forming plant tissues. A critical step in the wood forming process involves the cessation of primary wall synthesis (a wall structure that surrounds growing cells) and initiation of secondary cell wall synthesis. Here, we seek to elucidate the biomolecular and structural cell wall changes that take place during wood formation. In the theortical phase of the project, we integrate experimental and high resolution simulation data into mesoscopic simulations and aim to understand the biomechanical properties of secondary cell walls.