Post‐doctoral Position Simulation of polymeric film formation by drying of aqueous colloids Polymeric films, supported or not, have numerous applications in a vast diversity of fields including packaging, membranes, paints and coatings, adhesives, electronics, textile and paper industries, cosmetics, biomedical devices. They can be prepared starting from the melt, from a solution, a colloidal dispersion, a dry powder, an UV crosslinkable liquid,… by several different processes like extrusion, casting and drying, cataphoresis, plasma polymerisation, to quote some of the major ones. Among all these possibilities, our main interest is in thin supported films prepared from aqueous polymer colloidal dispersions (also called latexes) for two reasons: these systems release no (or little) volatile organic compounds (VOC) upon drying and the film formation process is rich and complex, involving many aspects of polymer and colloid physical chemistry. Complexity arises from a strong coupling of transport and thermomechanical phenomena at very different length scales (from molecular to macroscopic). Drying plays a crucial role in the final distribution of all species present in the system: hydrophilic, hydrophobic, surface active molecules, nanoparticles of various functionalities, pigments, fillers, binders,… This distribution itself strongly influences all properties of the film. Complexity of drying mechanisms imposes to address them jointly by the three complementary approaches of science: experiments, theory and simulation, the latter being our priority. Our goal is to lay the foundation for a simulation of the process of forming a film of paint from projected drops of a colloidal system, representative of water‐based paints. This simulation will have to be validated by experiments and supported by rigorous theoretical models. It should be carried far enough, on the one hand, to present a real help in the formulation of innovative paintings and their implementation in a demanding industry and, on the other hand, to constitute the starting point of more advanced scientific work. Context and duration: The project is funded by the French research agency "ANR. Materials and processes", also involving INSA Lyon, Rheology Laboratory Grenoble and various industrial companies. The successful candidate will work a year in Strasbourg, with possible extension of one year in Grenoble on a slightly different topic. The proposed net salary is 1855 € / month. Applicant: PhD in polymer or colloid physical chemistry or physics with interest in numerical simulation. Application: CV, letters of motivation and recommendation to Pr Yves Holl, Institut Charles Sadron, Strasbourg, [email protected], +333 88 41 41 16. Institut Charles Tél. : 33 (0)3 88 41 40 00 23 rue du Loess Sadron BP 84047 Fax : 33 (0)3 88 41 40 99 CNRS 67034 Strasbourg cedex 2 www-ics.u-strasbg.fr .