Researcher - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Organismal Biology teaches and explores the evolution, development and function on the organismal level. For more information see www.iob.uu.se.

Seeking a motivated, technically skilled and creative researcher for a highly interdisciplinary project housed in the Evolutionary Biology Center (EBC) at Uppsala University, Sweden. We are looking for candidates who can creatively contribute to interdisciplinary work, are highly independent and who thrive in an informal, hands-on lab with a flat hierarchy and friendly people.

Research in the Behrendt Lab explores the functional responses of single microorganisms in relation to their physical and chemical landscapes. To do this, we develop microfluidic lab-on-a-chip approaches that replicate key aspects of natural environments and combine these devices with high-throughput single-cell physiological readouts (automated microscopic imaging, various molecular readouts and chemical interrogations). Data obtained from such experiments are useful in, e.g., advancing the risk assessment of pollutants under forecasted climate change scenarios and enabling the phenotyping of unicellular phototrophs for industrial processes.

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Project description
To quantify the effects of singular- and combined stressors on the photophysiology of single cells, this project will combine: (i) microfluidics, (ii) miniaturized temperature control system, and (iii) chlorophyll fluorometry (PAM) into a novel, high-throughput approach. Where microfluidics enables the accurate delivery of multiparametric stressors (e.g. temperature and chemicals) to immobilized cells, PAM concurrently measures the photophysiology in exposed cells. Biological model systems to-be-investigated include single-cells of phytoplankton, which, due to their fundamental role in carbon cycling and primary production, are of great global and ecological relevance.

Work in this project will provide a major leap forward in our understanding on the role of environmental factors in controlling pollutant toxicity towards single cells. In addition to answering fundamental questions of environmental relevance, a commercialization of the resulting technology for rapid toxicity monitoring will also be pursued.

Duties
Specific tasks in this project include: (i) the design, development and operation of microfluidic platforms, (ii) the operation of PAM system, (iii) the coupling of PAM system to microfluidic and temperature control platforms, (iiii) the use of this high-throughput approach to measure the impact of environmental and toxicological stressors on model organism single-cells. Results are to be analyzed and reported in scientific publications.

Requirements
To qualify for an employment as a researcher you must have a PhD degree or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in materials science, chemistry, or microbiology.

Candidates must have excellent communications skills (written and spoken English) and a good scientific record of accomplishment. Candidates must have documented experience in the engineering of microfluidic systems and the operation of miniaturized temperature control and PAM systems.

Additional qualifications
We are looking for candidates who can creatively contribute to interdisciplinary work, and are very independent.  Good working knowledge of the investigated biological systems, research background in environmental chemistry and analytical chemistry are additional merits.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position, 24 months. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 220704 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact: lars.behrendt@scilifelab.uu.se, 00460763151045.

Please submit your application by 1 July 2022, UFV-PA 2022/2250.

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