The following positions are available at the Center for Hyperpolarization in Magnetic Resonance (HYPERMAG) at the Technical University of Denmark starting in the summer 2018:

1. 3 year PhD scholarship or
2. 2 year Postdoc position

Candidate details

• HYPERMAG seeks an enthusiastic candidate with a background in microbiology, biotechnology, systems biology, pharmacology or equivalent to carry out this interdisciplinary project.
• Track record in experimental work within microbiology is preferred.
• Good communication skills in English, both written and spoken, are required.
• Candidates for the PhD position should hold an MSc in engineering or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to the MSc in engineering.
• Candidates for the Postdoc position should hold a PhD or equivalent.

Project details

• The subject of the announced project is metabolic research within bacterial pathogens and their hosts.
• The aim is to investigate metabolic crosstalk between intracellular pathogens and their host using the unique possibilities of hyperpolarized tracers.
• Little is known about this crosstalk and as a consequence also how external impacts such as drugs or prebiotics affects the interlinked metabolism of the pathogen and host cells in the gut epithelium.

Responsibilities  

The candidate will be working with interdisciplinary experimental research rooted in microbiology.

The project will include:

• Cellular work with bacterial pathogens mainly shigella, listeria and salmonella.
• Adaptation of a cellular infection model based on caco-2 cells used for drug screening.
• Development of tracer experiments on infected gut epithelium tissue from mice.
• Study of effects of drugs and prebiotics on the diseased metabolome.
• Application of hyperpolarized NMR as main technique for investigating the disease metabolome as well as use and implementation of standard biochemical assays.

Approval and Enrolment

PhD scholarships are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general PhD programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.

Assessment

The assessment of the applicants will be made by Associate Professor Pernille Rose Jensen and Senior Researcher Mathilde Lerche. Final assessment will be on the basis of an interview. You are more than welcome to contact us at email peroje@elektro.dtu.dk.

Application

Applications must be submitted as one pdf file containing all materials to be given consideration. Fill in the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one pdf file. The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Diploma (BSc/MSc/PhD)
• For PhD candidates: Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and excel spreadsheet here)
• For postdoctoral candidates: List of publications