PhD positions in ultrafast molecular dynamics and coherent control, Michigan State University, USA (Deadline: 15.03.2026)

PhD positions in ultrafast molecular dynamics and coherent control, start in Fall 2026

My research group at Michigan State University expects to recruit up to three PhD students in the Fall of 2026. All PhD students receive full financial support that combines research assistantship and teaching assistantship. Students from all countries are welcome to apply.

Research opportunities (examples of current directions)

Strong-field ionization in polyatomic molecules. We aim to determine which strong-field pathways, multiphoton ionization, tunneling, and electron recollision, dominate in complex molecules and how to steer them. The central challenge is linking the ionization step to where energy is deposited within the molecule and how that energy dictates fragmentation and chemistry. The goal is a predictive, controllable description of strong-field ionization that identifies when common simplifying models fail and what variables truly control outcomes, enabling the earliest, femtosecond-scale control of fragmentation and reaction pathways before energy redistribution or collisions can intervene.

Ultrafast electron-driven chemistry with femtosecond resolution. We track electron-impact and electron-induced reactions in real time and identify exotic reaction mechanisms that include bond rearrangements and roaming before energy fully redistributes. The challenge is to extract mechanisms and timescales across as many as 100 competing product channels and connect them to the underlying electronic structure. Applications include radiation damage in biomolecular building blocks, mass spectrometry, and the ion chemistry that underpins EUV photolithography.

Ultrafast charge-driven chemistry in molecular clusters. We use weakly bound clusters as controllable reaction complexes that connect isolated molecules to condensed-phase environments. By initiating site-selective ionization and launching a radical cation toward a neighboring molecule with tunable kinetic energy, we can observe charge transfer, proton transfer, and bond rearrangement on femtosecond timescales. The key challenge is determining how local structure and microsolvation set the earliest branching between energy redistribution, reaction, and fragmentation, and when the dynamics becomes nonstatistical. This work informs radiation and plasma chemistry, interfacial and aerosol reactivity, and charge-initiated transformations relevant to biomolecular damage and materials processing, while providing stringent benchmarks for electronic-structure and nonadiabatic dynamics simulations.

Phase characterization and adaptive pulse shaping for extreme ultrafast control. We develop precision spectral-phase metrology and adaptive pulse shaping to generate shorter, cleaner, and more controllable femtosecond pulses, including methods suited to high-power operation. The challenge is rapid, robust phase measurement and correction that enables regimes such as sub-5 fs, high-contrast excitation at peak intensities up to 1018 W/cm2, and advanced coincidence or ion-imaging experiments. These capabilities enable the strong-field and reaction-dynamics programs above and create opportunities in microscopy, next-generation photonics, optical computing, and sensing.

Recent papers from our group:

J. Stamm, S. S. Priyadarsini, S. Sandhu, A. Chakraborty, J. Shen, S. Kwon, J. Sandhu, C. Wicka, A. Mehmood, B. G. Levine, P. Piecuch, M. Dantus, “Factors governing H3+ formation from methyl halogens and pseudohalogens,” Nature Communications 16, 410 (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55065-5

M. Dantus, “Ultrafast studies of elusive chemical reactions in the gas phase,” Science 385, eadk1833 (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adk1833

J. Stamm, S. Kwon, S. Sandhu, J. Sandhu, B. Levine, M. Dantus, “Coherence mapping to identify the intermediates of multi-channel dissociative ionization,” Communications Chemistry 7, 103 (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42004-024-01176-5

E. Prieto Zamudio, R. Das, N. Krishnakanth Katturi, J. Stamm, J. Sandhu, S. Kwon, M. Minasian, M. Dantus, “Enhanced strong-field ionization and fragmentation of methanol using non-commensurate field,” J. Phys. Chem. A 128, 9099 (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.4c05584

M. Dantus, “Tracking Molecular Fragmentation in Electron-Ionization Mass Spectrometry with Ultrafast Time Resolution,” Accounts of Chemical Research 57, 033003 (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.3c00713

How to apply

Applicants should apply to the Department of Chemistry and email Prof. Marcos Dantus at dantus@msu.edu with a CV, a brief description of research interests (a few paragraphs) and contact information for two or three references. Prior experience in ultrafast lasers, AMO/chemical physics, physical chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, charged-particle imaging, or computational chemistry is helpful but not required; strong preparation in physics, chemistry, engineering, or a related field is encouraged.

For additional information about our group, see https://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/dantus/