Senior research engineer, at the Department of Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry is looking to hire a senior research engineer. The employment is intended to start on 24 Feb 2022 and will involve research in an ongoing project concerning pharmaceuticals in the environment and their effect on bacterial communities.

Project description
This research project is part of a larger research initiative investigating interactions between pharmaceuticals and microbial communities in aqueous environmental systems.

Work tasks
You will be working with experimental analysis investigating chemical composition of bacterial biofilms and how it is influenced by low levels of pharmaceuticals. The experimental work consists of characterization using vibrational spectroscopy of bacterial biofilms as well as planktonic cells. It may also include surface characterization using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The work involves cultivation of bacterial cells and biofilms both as static cultures and in flow cell systems, chemical experimentation, treatment of spectroscopic data, interpretation of analysis results, authoring of scientific reports as well as compiling suggestions for continued experimental analysis.

Qualifications
A PhD degree in chemistry or equivalent is a requirement. Documented experience of scientific research is required, which includes planning and conducting experiments, analysis of data and results in light of recent scientific literature in the research area. Experience in vibrational spectroscopy analyses of bacterial systems as well as chemical and microbiological methodologies (e.g. including sterile work, bacterial cultivation, confocal microscopy, chemical analysis, wet chemical work and data analysis) is also required. The work will be conducted using English as working language, thus, fluency both in spoken and written English is required.

We are interested in candidates who have strong personal abilities with respect to creativity and cooperation. We believe you are autonomous, value high quality, have a problem solving analytical ability, as well as specialist knowledge with respect to vibrational spectroscopy of bacterial systems.

It is a merit if you have postdoctoral research experience as well as experience in chemical and microbiological work both on aerobic and anaerobic systems, surface chemical analysis using XPS, biofilms in flow systems, and student supervision. Furthermore, experience of research on environmental biofilms is a merit.

Application
Your application should contain a personal letter with motivation for why you are applying for the job, as well as how your previous research experience fits the position advertised. Furthermore, it should contain a CV, doctoral degree certificate, a publication list, a copy of the relevant diploma and other relevant certificates/grades as well as names and contact details of two reference persons.

Applications must be submitted via our e-recruitment system no later than December 29th 2021.

Terms of employment
The employment is full time and a fixed-term employment. The employment will start 2022-02-24, or as otherwise agreed, and end 30 September 2022.

Information
For more information please contact Associate Professor Madeleine Ramstedt [email protected] , phone +46 90 786 6328 Information about the research group can be found via this link: https://www.umu.se/en/research/groups/madeleine-ramstedt-lab/ .

The Department of Chemistry is one of the largest departments within the Faculty of Science and Technology with approximately 200 employees, of which approximately 50 doctoral students, and a strong and expanding research. The Department has three major research areas: Biological Chemistry, Environmental and Biogeochemistry, and Technical Chemistry. We are also a strong partner in the KBC, Chemical-Biological Center.

For more information about working at Umeå University, https://www.umu.se/en/work-with-us/ .