Postdoctoral candidate in Structural Cell Biology of Tuberculosis at the M4I, Maastricht University

Updated: over 1 year ago
Deadline: 14 Aug 2022

Postdoctoral candidate in Structural Cell Biology of Tuberculosis at the M4I, Maastricht University
Postdoctoral candidate in Structural Cell Biology of Tuberculosis at the M4I, Maastricht University
Published Deadline Location
18 Jul 14 Aug Maastricht

We aim to improve the treatment of Tuberculosis, by visualising and understanding how proteins work within their cellular environment in health and disease. Will you help us achieve this goal? Then join the Nanoscopy Division in the Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging Institute (M4I)!
Job description

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Even though TB is curable, about one and a half million people succumb to it every year. Current treatments are long and with side effects: the need for new antibiotics and vaccines is obvious.

We aim to understand how gene products or proteins work within their cellular environment in health and disease. Our institute houses a state of the art cryo-Light Microscopy/Electron Microscopy correlative workflow from cellular localization, milling with focused ion beam (FIB-SEM), down to cryo-electron tomography, subvolume averaging and image processing to study how these nano-machines work under native conditions.

We seek a talented Postdoctoral candidate to join our interdisciplinary team. Our biology research focuses on unraveling, controlling and tempering the pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis at a molecular level. The applicant will apply in situ structural biology to understand these nano-machines within its native context of the infected cell. The important work in biochemistry and single particle analysis performed in our group will support the candidate´s project. The candidate will work within a team of academic investigators and (industrial) engineers to research and develop a next generation Vitrojet device for optimal vitrification of cells together with some companies like our startup www.cryosol-world.com .

Recent relevant publications from our lab: 

Structure of the Yersinia injectisome in intracellular host cell phagosomes revealed by cryo FIB electron tomography.

Berger C, Ravelli RBG, López-Iglesias C, Kudryashev M, Diepold A, Peters PJ.

J Struct Biol. 2021 Mar;213(1):107701.

Endocytosed nanogold fiducials for improved in-situ cryo-electron tomography tilt-series alignment.

Berger C, Ravelli RBG, López-Iglesias C, Peters PJ.

J Struct Biol. 2021 Mar;213(1):107698.

Cryo-EM structures from sub-nl volumes using pin-printing and jet vitrification.

Ravelli RBG, Nijpels FJT, Henderikx RJM, Weissenberger G, Thewessem S, Gijsbers A, Beulen BWAMM, López-Iglesias C, Peters PJ.

Nat Commun. 2020 May 22;11(1):2563.


Specifications
  • max. 38 hours per week
  • €2960—€4670 per month
  • Maastricht View on Google Maps

Maastricht University (UM)


Requirements

You are a hands-on person who is prepared to take a practical, experimental approach within a highly challenging project. Because of the interdisciplinary character of the project, you are able to work independently while being a good and pro-active independent team player. Furthermore we encourage you to apply if:

  • You hold a PhD degree in Biology, Chemistry or related fields;

  • You hold a master degree in (nano)biology,(bio)chemistry, (bio)physics, (bio)mechanical engineering or related fields;

  • You have affinity with high-end equipment and/or cell biology;

  • You would like to work in an interdisciplinary project involving both science and engineering;

  • You have the ability of creating societal impact and commercial value;

  • You have good writing and oral communication skills;

  • You are fluent in English. Knowledge of Dutch is not required.

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term contract: 2 years.

Would you like to join our team? We offer you an enthusiastic working environment. You will be appointed within an ambitious international research team for 1.0 FTE (38 hours per week).

The appointment will be based on a two-year fixed-term contract. During this period, you will be given the opportunity to develop the skills and competencies required for the fulfilment of this position.

As an postdoctoral researcher you will be appointed in scale 10 according to CAO-NU (monthly gross salary ranging between € 2,960 and € 4,670 depending on experience a􀀂er completion of PhD ). Employees also receive an 8% holiday and 8.3% year-end bonus given annually and those who need to relocate may be eligible for compensation. Employees relocating from abroad may be eligible for the Dutch ‘30% ruling’, which can result in a significantly higher net salary. The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) and local UM provisions also apply. Laboratory and office facilities (with support staff) are shared by the entire institute.

As holder of the Family-friendly University quality mark, we offer flexible working hours and the option of working partly from home if the nature of your job allows it. For this you will receive a monthly home-work and internet allowance. If you work full-time, you are entitled to 29 days of vacation per year. You have the option to work 2 'compensatory hours' a week more, which means an additional 12  vacation days. You can also personalize your terms of employment using a 'Employment Conditions Selection Model'. As a UM employee, you can also participate in our fitness programme and make use of the extensive sports facilities which we offer our students.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl  > About UM > Working at UM .


Employer
Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 22,000 students and about 5,000 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.
For more information, visit www.maastrichtuniversity.nl


Department
Nanoscopy division of the Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging institute (M4I)

The M4I Nanoscopy division has a state-of-the-art microscopy facility among which a correlative cryo-EM workflow consisting of a cryo-CorrSight, cryo-Scios dual FIB-SEM, and an Arctica cryo-TEM equipped with autoloader, phase plate, Falcon3 and Timepix3 electron counting camera. In addition, it includes two Tecnai Spirit 120kV TEMs, super-resolution light microscopy (3D-STED) and 2-photon microscopy for live cell imaging. The division of Nanoscopy forms together with the division of Imaging Mass Spectrometry the Multimodal Molecular Imaging institute (M4I) www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/M4I  in which more than 50 young scientist from all over the world bring together a powerful palette of high-end, innovative imaging technologies. Our Microscopy CORE Lab ensures scientific and practical support in sample preparation, microscopy techniques, imaging processing and interpretation. We participate in www.emicroscopy.nl , eurobioimaging.nl  and nemi.microscopie.nl and have access to two KRIOS cryo-EMs at NeCEN www.necen.nl . Our lab develops with our next-door ‘Instrument Development Engineering & Evaluation’ facility new technologies.


Additional information

For more information about this position you can contact:

Peter Peters: mail to: pj.peters at maastrichtuniversity.nl

Raimond Ravelli: mail to: rbg.ravelli at maastrichtuniversity.nl

Carmen López-Iglesias: mail to: c.lopeziglesias at maastrichtuniversity.nl

To apply at this vacancy, press the button ‘apply now’ to see the application procedure.



Apply via postal mail
Apply via postal mail

[email protected]

Don't forget to mention AcademicTransfer and the job number: AT2022.288 in your letter.


Back to the vacancy
Application procedure

You can respond to this vacancy by sending your motivation letter and CV, stating the vacancy number AT2022.288, by email to: 
[email protected]

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.



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