Offer details
- Type de poste: Post-doctorat
- Secteur : Public
- Localité : International
- Limite de candidature : 23/11/2021
- Profil de poste:
Recherche et innovation - Domaine(s) :
Microbiologie et Immunologie, Autre
Description
ORGANISATION/COMPANY: Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences
RESEARCH FIELD: Biological sciences › Biological engineering, Chemistry › Biochemistry, Engineering › Biomedical engineering, Physics › Biophysics
Technology › Biotechnology
RESEARCHER PROFILE: Recognised Researcher (R2)
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 23/11/2021 00:00 – Europe/Brussels
LOCATION: Poland › Warsaw
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Temporary
JOB STATUS: Full-time
HOURS PER WEEK: 40
OFFER STARTING DATE: 15/12/2021
REFERENCE NUMBER: 64/2021
Offer description
The objective of the project is to develop an analytical platform to encapsulate bacterial cells into droplets using microfluidics, incubate them and detect growth without optical labeling.
In the envisioned protocol, the sample culture of cells will be serially diluted and each dilution split and mixed with multiple concentrations of antibiotic to screen inoculum density and antibiotic concentration with digital droplet assays. The assays at high and low inoculum density will allow us to count the fraction of populated droplets that produced dense colonies of bacteria.
These counts will allow us to measure the single-cell Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (scMIC) level and the inoculum effect (IE) while the low-density screens will uncover the phenotypic heteroresistance, p(scMIC).
The method will offer a wealth of information for research on the response of cells and bacterial colonies to antibiotics, and hopefully will guide more effective treatments regimens.
We are looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral candidate with background in biological sciences (microbiology, bioengineering, biochemistry, biology), physics, chemistry or similar and possibly with experience in designing and fabricating microfluidic devices.
The successful candidate will join a multinational and interdisciplinary team of scientist and will be responsible for designing, constructing and testing microfluidic systems for microbial testing of antibiotics in high-throughput and point-of-care (POC) formats.
Responsibilities
- Design, construction and test droplet-based microfluidic systems for single-cell encapsulation and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST)
- Microbial cell culturing
- Monitoring the growth of a large number of single bacterial cells isolated in nanoliter droplets. Determination of the heterogeneity of phenotypic response of individual cells in population
- Data analysis, writing reports and scientific publications
- Cooperation with researchers, including communication with English-speaking colleagues
- Support for PhD students
Benefits
- 12-month full time work contract with the possibility of extension
- Salary of 10 000 PLN per month financed by the NCN MAESTRO 10 Project No. 2018/30/A/ST4/00036. This is the gross amount including employer’s expense. It would be the subject to taxes, social and health insurance and other legal deductions according to Polish law.
- 36 days of vacation, social security, health insurance
- Work in the outstanding scientific institution in the dynamic research group with members representing diverse interests and qualifications – see details on the website: http://ichf.pong.pl/en
- Participation in international conferences and Erasmus projects
- Engagement into an ambitious research program and possibility to build the academic career
Eligibility criteria
- PhD in biological sciences, physics, chemistry or similar obtained not earlier than 7 years before the engagement in the project
- Enthusiasm, dedication and creativity measured by the quality and number of peer-reviewed publications and documented projects realized by the Candidate
- Mobility documented by fellowships, research internships (especially in foreign research institutions)
- Good publication record
- Experience in research related to the project, especially in AMR, AST, experimental microbiology and/or droplet microfluidics.
- Very good skills in spoken and written English
- Outstanding motivation for research
Selection process
Complete application should include the following documents:
- scientific curriculum vitae, including a list of scientific achievements (scholarships, publications, patents, conference presentations, etc.).
- motivation letter
- recommendation letter
- citation report (e.g. from Web of Science) including the number of publication, number of citation without self-citation, h-index of the Candidate
- a scan of the PhD diploma
- a scan of the MSc diploma
How to Apply
Send application directly to rekrutacja@ichf.edu.pl.
IMPORTANT: email title “Recruitment 64/2021”
Recruitment 64/2021 (emails without this number will be not considered!)
Specific Requirements
A post-doc type post is a full-time post, scheduled by the project’s principal investigator for a person who has obtained their PhD degree within 7 years before joining the project.
This period may be extended by a time of long-term (in excess of 90 days) documented sick leaves or rehabilitation leaves granted on account of being unfit to work.
In addition, the period may be extended by the number of months of a child care leave granted pursuant to the Labour Code and in the case of women, by 18 months for every child born or adopted, whichever manner of accounting for career breaks is preferable.