Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS, Photochemistry and Spectroscopy Department
National Science Centre
Project title, type and project number
Graphene biosensing and biophysics, Sonata 15 no. 2019/35/D/ST5/00958, 59/2023
Project leader
Dr. Izabela Kamińska
Description
With this project, we aim at establishing a novel platform for the new field of graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) biosensing and biophysics. There are two major players: 2D material (graphene or graphene/hBN heterostructure) and DNA nanostructures. On one hand, we have high quality 2D materials with outstanding optoelectronic properties but chemically inert. On the other hand, we have nucleic acids or DNA origami nanostructures folded solely from single-stranded DNA which allows for introduction of almost any entity (for example a chemical group) with very high (nanometer) precision. We want to use these building blocks to construct biosensors operating at single-molecules level as well as to investigate macromolecules which are of biological interest.
Number of vacancies
1
Key responsibilities include
• Preparation of nucleic acids nanostructures for the investigation of biophysical properties of biomolecules and their interactions with nucleic acids.
• Investigation of optoelectronic properties of graphene, hBN and their heterostructures.
• Rebuilding, optimization, and alignment of the home-built fluorescence confocal microscope.
• Data analysis, writing reports and scientific publications.
• Cooperation with researchers, including communication with English-speaking colleagues.
• Providing help and supervision to junior members of the group.
Position in the project
Post-doctoral position
Job type
Full-time employment, Type of contract: temporary, Hours Per Week: 40
Salary
We offer around 9600 PLN gross * per month salary financed from the NCN Sonata 15 Project No. 2019/35/D/ST5/00958. * Gross salary. It would be the subject of taxes, social and health insurances, and other legal deductions according to polish law.
Position starts on
1.03.2024
Maximum planned period of contract/stipend agreement
The position within the grant is for a period of 8 months.
We offer
• 8-month full time work contract with a gross salary of around 9600 PLN per month financed from the NCN SONATA 15 Project No. 2019/35/D/ST5/00958.
• Engagement into an ambitious research program and possibility to build the academic career.
• The opportunity for short scientific visits in the group of our collaborators in Munich, as well as participation in seminars and international conferences.
Career development prospects at IPC PAS
The job in the exciting interdisciplinary project, realized in a collaboration with Prof. Tinnefeld from LMU Munich. The successful candidate will be able to take advantage of all programs in the IPC PAS, including Young Scientists of IPC PAS competition and Mobility of Young Scientists of IPC PAS competition. The Institute provides an opportunity to participate in ERASMUS+ program.
Scientific discipline
physical chemistry/chemical physics, biochemistry, biophysics, photophysics, photochemistry or related fields
Scientific profile of a candidate
Recognised Researcher (R2)
Requirements
• PhD degree in chemistry, physics or related fields obtained not earlier than 7 years before the engagement in the project (this period might be longer due to family reasons according to NCN rules).
• Background in nanotechnology.
• Experience in DNA nanotechnology, optoelectronics of 2D materials and/or fluorescence microscopy and single-molecule techniques.
• Knowledge in LabView and Matlab is a plus.
• Very good command of spoken and written English is required.
• Excellent communications, organization, and time management skills.
Key assessment criteria
The Commission will take into account the following criteria and evaluate applications on a point scale:
• Competence for specific tasks in a research project
• Previous scientific achievements (publication record, H-index etc.)
• References
• Candidate’s own initiative in research projects.
• 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 publications, number of citations without self-citation, h-index of the Candidate
• a scan of the PhD diploma
• a scan of the MSc diploma
• Employment will take place in accordance with the provisions of the competition documentation of the National Science Center (NSC) for the SONATA 15 (https://www.ncn.gov.pl/ogloszenia/konkursy/sonata15?language=en ) and with the Employment policy of the Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS ( https://ichf.edu.pl/files/csr/ipc-procedures.pdf )
• The Commission will analyze CVs of the candidates. The top candidates will be invited for an online interview (09-10.01.2024). Good command of English is required. We reserve the right to contact and reply only to selected candidates.
• The incomplete applications will be not considered.
• A position will be offered to the person who obtains the highest number of points.
• The results of the competition are made public.
• Candidates who have been issued a negative opinion by the Competition Committee or candidates not selected for employment have the right to appeal against the results of the evaluation. The appeal shall be lodged with the Director of the Institute within 7 days from the date of receipt of the appropriate information. The decision of the Director of the Institute shall be final.
• If the top candidate does not sign the contract, due to the resignation, we reserve the right to choose the second best candidate.
• The results of the recruitment are planned to be announced on 19.01.2024.
Candidate needs to meet formal requirements:
a) their PhD degree has not been awarded by an institution planned to employ them at this post;.
b) they will be employed for a period of at least 6 months
c) at the time of receiving remuneration, they will not be receiving any other remuneration paid from the funds granted to research projects under NCN calls under the heading of direct costs;
d) in the period of receiving the remuneration they will be receiving no remuneration from another employer pursuant to an employment contract, including an employer with registered office outside of Poland
How to Apply: Send application directly to rekrutacja@ichf.edu.pl;
IMPORTANT! email subject: “Recruitment no. 59/2023”
(emails without this number will not be considered)
For more details about the position please visit: Izabela Kamińska, ikaminska@ichf.edu.pl, phone +48 22 343 3213
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.
Application deadline
7.01.2024 23:00
Deadline for the settlement of the competition
19.01.2024
Archival announcement. We would like to thank all candidates for their submitted applications.