NEW 3-Year Postdoctoral position in Hoogenboom Group

We are recruiting for a postdoc position funded by a 3-year BBSRC project that seeks to develop and apply new methodology for the molecular-scale visualisation of membrane perforation by pore forming proteins that are involved in bacterial attack and immune defence. This applies for example to pore forming bacterial toxins that perforate host cell membranes to release nutrients for the bacteria, to invade the host cell or to kill it. On the other hand, the immune system secretes pore forming proteins to kill infected or cancerous cells, or invading pathogens, in the organism.

The research will be part of an on-going collaboration between Dr Bart Hoogenboom’s lab at the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Dr Alan Lowe’s and Prof. Helen Saibil’s labs at the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology. Between these three research groups, the project can build on extensive expertise in atomic force microscopy (AFM), single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, and electron microscopy (EM), as well as on the biophysics and structural biology of pore forming proteins, see for example, Lukoyanova et al., J. Cell Sci. 2016 (in press); Hodel et al., Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 2016; Dudkina et al., Nat. Comm. 2016; Lukoyanova et al., PLoS Biol. 2015; Leung et al., eLife 2014. In addition, it benefits from tight collaborations with various research groups on immunology and infection.

For this position, we are looking for candidates with a PhD in a relevant area of Life Sciences or Physical Sciences (or at least have submitted their thesis) with an outstanding track record of research and publications in highly regarded international journals. Extensive experience in single-molecule fluorescence microscopy or scanning probe microscopy is essential. The application deadline is 22nd May 2016 and a tentative date for interviews is 6th June 2016.

Further information about the position, about the required experience, and the application procedure can be found on the UCL Vacancies webpage

Informal inquiries can be directed to Dr Bart Hoogenboom, b.hoogenboom@ucl.ac.uk .