Postdoc position in in the Department of Applied Sciences. The Faculty of Applied Sciences is the largest faculty of TU Delft, with around 550 scientists, a support staff of 250 and 1,800 students.The faculty conducts fundamental, application-oriented research and offers scientific education at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels.
The faculty is active in the fields of Life and Health Science & Technology, Nanoscience, Chemical Engineering, Radiation Science & Technology, and Applied Physics.
Within the Chemical Engineering Department, the Boukany research group focuses on fundamental and applied topics in soft living matter, with a major emphasis on controlling and understanding the dynamics and transport of DNA into living cells. To do this, we apply cutting-edge micro/nano-fluidic technologies to manipulate the DNA and cell for both fundamental biophysical studies and applications, such as non-viral gene therapy. We will employ both experimental and theoretical approaches in our research to understand fundamental issues in electroporation and DNA biophysics.
This post-doctoral position is funded by the ERC starting grant from the European Research Council.
Safe and efficient delivery of DNA into living cells holds great promise for treating diseases such as cancer. In contrast to viral delivery methods, the delivery of naked DNA to cells is considered the best and safest alternative for biomedical applications. Electroporation promises to do just that, but currently it is a crude and inefficient technique at best. You will tackle this by performing experiments at the single cell level and employing single molecule techniques to observe all electroporation processes in real time. Your challenge is to understand electroporation and DNA transports at the molecular and subcellular level. This is an excellent topic to further your training in cell biology, biophysics and engineering.
Job description
Modelling Electroporation in a single cell
We seek a post-doctoral researcher with an interest in biophysics at the level of cells to employ her/his theoretical skills to model electroporation in collaboration with experimenters (post-docs and PhDs) in our lab. The post-doc will develop and implement a simulation approach in order to understand the electroporation process under various conditions.
Computational analyses and simulations along with experimental observations and measurements will be performed to investigate the structure and dynamics of electroporation and the DNA uptake process.
Salary: €2977 to €3908
Requirements
We seek applicants with the following qualifications:
- PhD degree in a relevant field, such as chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, applied physics, biophysics, physical chemistry, life science, or fluid mechanics.
- Creativity combined with a sound academic attitude.
- Knowledge of theoretical/numerical modelling.
- Excellent analytical skills.
- Excellent communication skills and desire to work in a multidisciplinary team.
- Fluency in spoken and written English.
Information and application
For more information about this position, please contact P. Boukany, e-mail: P.E.Boukany@tudelft.nl, phone: +31 (0)15-2789981.
Application process: To apply, please e-mail a detailed CV and the names and addresses of three or more references along with a letter of application to P.C.M. Hilkhuijsen, p.c.m.hilkhuijsen@tudelft.nl.
When applying for this position, please refer to vacancy number TNWCE15-31.