Join Us

The Adaptive Catalysis Group welcomes motivated researchers and students who are interested in understanding and controlling dynamic catalyst evolution under reaction conditions.

Our work sits at the interface of catalyst synthesis, porous materials, synchrotron science, and reaction-mechanism studies. We are particularly interested in researchers who want to connect careful materials design with rigorous structural evidence.

Research Areas

Potential projects may involve:

dynamic restructuring and deactivation of heterogeneous catalysts
atomically precise single-site and multinuclear metal catalysts
zeolites and other porous catalytic materials
operando X-ray and neutron diffraction
total scattering and pair distribution function analysis
X-ray absorption spectroscopy
structure–function relationships in catalytic reactions

Prospective PhD Students

Students with backgrounds in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, catalysis, or related areas are welcome to make contact.

Strong applicants should be interested in developing the ability to:

define mechanistic scientific questions rather than only execute experiments
design discriminating control experiments
evaluate competing structural or mechanistic hypotheses
integrate synthesis, catalytic testing, and advanced characterization
communicate scientific results clearly and critically

Postdoctoral Researchers and Research Assistants

Researchers with experience in heterogeneous catalysis, porous materials, synchrotron characterization, crystallography, XAS, PDF analysis, or related areas are encouraged to contact us when suitable opportunities arise.

This page does not imply that a funded vacancy is currently open. Specific funded positions will be announced through the group website or relevant institutional channels.

Collaborations

We welcome collaborations that benefit from complementary expertise in catalyst synthesis, operando experiments, synchrotron characterization, structural modelling, and catalytic reaction analysis.

How to Contact Us

Please email Dr. Tianxiang Chen at txchen@polyu.edu.hk.

For research-position enquiries, please include:

a current CV
a short description of your research interests and relevant experience
representative publications or research outputs, where applicable
your expected start date and the type of position or programme you are interested in