Position for atomic force/optical microscopy enthusiasts and instrumentalists at the Biozentrum in Basel

[Oliver Biehlmaier-2]

***** To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting. ***** Dear colleagues,

On behalf of Prof. Rod Lim, one of the PIs at the Biozentrum, I want to take the opportunity to post an advert for a very interesting PhD position on the combination of AFM and optical microscopy in his group. The position will be financed via the Swiss Nanoscience Institute PhD Fellowship 2016.

Please find the advert below and feel free to forward it to anybody who might be interested.

Cheers,

Oliver

Oliver Biehlmaier, PhD | Head of Imaging Core Facility  | Biozentrum, University of Basel | Klingelbergstrasse 50/70 | CH-4056 Basel
Phone: [phone] | Email: [hidden email] | www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/imcf | www.microscopynetwork.unibas.ch

Swiss Nanoscience Institute PhD Fellowship 2016

Calling all atomic force/optical microscopy enthusiasts and instrumentalists!

Are you interested in applying quantitative microscopy techniques for cutting-edge biological research?

 

If you are, please read on…

 

Project description

Based at the University of Basel in Switzerland, the Lim Lab at the Biozentrum and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI), together with the Meyer Lab at the Physics Department, are looking for an eager, outstanding instrumentalist/experimentalist to work in the exciting multidisciplinary field of Mechanobiology^1-3. Here, we want to integrate atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a recently acquired spinning-disk confocal microscope so as to fully optimize AFM and optical nanoscopy measurements of live cells, and thereby be able to resolve subcellular structures and their dynamic responses to external force. Our long-term goal is to correlate cellular mechanics to the interplay between the microenvironment, nucleo/cytoarchitecture, and the protein linkages between them.

 

Background

The Lim Lab specializes in functional studies of biological machines, cells and tissues using AFM⁴. Recent breakthroughs include resolving the inner workings of the nuclear pore complex by high-speed AFM⁵ and the development of an AFM-based apparatus known as ARTIDISâ for cancer diagnosis⁶. The Meyer lab is a world-leading expert in developing ultra-sensitive AFM instrumentation such as friction force microscopy and dynamic force microscopy with true atomic resolution⁷. He is also active in the field of nanomechanics, including nanoscale friction⁸ and nanosensors⁹.

 

Deadline

Please submit your application online here specifying project no. P1603 or contact Prof. Roderick Lim (c/o [hidden email]) for more details. Applications close on Dec 31^st 2016.

 

About the SNI

The SNI constitutes a priority program of the University of Basel. Since 2013, the SNI funds basic research through a PhD Fellowship program. The research activities address the cutting edge scientific and interdisciplinary approach of Nanoscience and Technology being rooted in disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and engineering.

 

References

1.              Fletcher, D.A. & Mullins, D. Cell mechanics and the cytoskeleton. Nature 463, 485-492 (2010).

2.              Trepat, X., Lenormand, G. & Fredberg, J.J. Universality in cell mechanics. Soft Matter 4, 1750-1759 (2008).

3.              Vogel, V. & Sheetz, M. Local force and geometry sensing regulate cell functions. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 7, 265- 275 (2006).

4.              Plodinec, M. & Lim, R.Y.H. in Mammary Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols, Vol. 1293. (ed. M.D. Vivanco) 231-246 (Humana Press Inc, Totowa; 2015).

5.              Sakiyama, Y., Mazur, A., Kapinos, L.E. & Lim, R.Y.H. Spatiotemporal dynamics of the nuclear pore complex transport barrier resolved by high-speed atomic force microscopy. Nature Nanotechnology 11 (2016).

6.              Plodinec, M. et al. The nanomechanical signature of breast cancer. Nature Nanotechnology 7, 757-765 (2012).

7.              Meyer, E., Hug, H.J. & Bennewitz, R. Scanning probe microscopy: The lab on a tip. (Springer Science & Business Media, 2013).

8.              Meyer, E., Gyalog, T., Overney, R.M. & Dransfeld, K. Nanoscience: friction and rheology on the nanometer scale. (World Scientific, 1998).

9.              Fritz, J. et al. Translating biomolecular recognition into nanomechanics. Science 288, 316-318 (2000).