Postdoc in bacteriology with focus on development of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing

The workplace

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a long-term difference in society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has over 45,000 students, more than 7,000 employees and a turnover of around SEK 7 billion.

Electrification and digitalisation are among the largest areas for the future sustainable societies. The Department of Electrical Engineering conducts successful research and education in the areas - renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, industrial IoT, 5G communication and wireless sensor networks as well as smart electronic sensors and medical systems. The Department of Electrical Engineering is an international workplace with around 130 employees that all contribute to important engineering, energy and health challenges at the Ångström Laboratory.

The positions will be at Prof. Zhen Zhang’s group in the Solid-State Electronics division, the Department of Electrical Engineering. More info about the group is available at http://personal.teknik.uu.se/zhenzhang/ . The multidisciplinary postdoc project will be in close collaboration with Prof. Sanna Koskiniemi at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University (http://www.icm.uu.se/forskning/Mikrobiologi/sanna-koskiniemi/ ).

Project description

Rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests (rASTs) are highly desired in modern clinical practice for quick selection of right antibiotics to treat infectious diseases at the early but critical stage. However, currently available testing methods normally require growth of bacteria into colonies, which usually take more than two days to accomplish a task. They are, therefore, not satisfactory for practical needs that require fast answers. Moreover, these methods are not applicable for slow-growing bacteria, or samples containing sub-populations of slow- or non-growing bacteria which can resume growth after the antibiotic attack. To understand if and how the sub-population of slow-/non-growing bacteria causes failure in infection treatments, rASTs at the single cell level is required. To address these challenges, our project aims at developing a novel Silicon (Si) chip based all-electrical testing platform to achieve rAST at single cell level. The success of this project will potentially provide a low-cost and rapid ASTs platform for effective infection treatments. It could also help to accelerate the development of new antibiotic drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.

Duties: The applicant is expected to drive the bacteriological side of the project. Duties include general microbiology and molecular biology work in the laboratory as well as experimental work in the clean room facility with testing the devices being developed. Bioinformatic analyses of bacterial genomes to identify metabolic pathways are included. The project requires extensive knowledge about bacterial metabolism and physiology, so the duties include literature searches as well as oral presentations and writing/editing of scientific papers.

Qualifications: We are looking for highly-motivated applicants with a PhD degree in a microbiology, molecular biology or similar. The candidate is expected to be able to work independently and to have a strong interest in antibiotic resistance, tolerance and bacterial metabolism. The applicant's PhD degree must have been obtained no more than three years prior to the application date. However, periods of sick leave or parental leave are deductible from the three years period. In addition, the candidate is expected to take own initiatives as well as to collaborate with colleagues both within and outside of the research group. The position is in an international context so good oral and written communication skills in English are essential. Finally, significant weight will be given to personal suitability such as; analytical and organizational skills, personal maturity, ability to work with others, take initiatives, and to show good judgement.

Meriting:

-Documented expertise in microfluidics, cell trapping or microscopy is meriting

-Documented ability of work relating to bacterial metabolism is meriting

Contact person(s)

Professor Zhen Zhang, email: [email protected] , phone: +46(0)18 471 3131 or associate professor Sanna Koskiniemi, email: [email protected] , phone: +46 70 7607616

Scholarship

The scholarship amount is SEK 30000 per month (tax free) for one year, with possibility of extension for one more year.

Starting date

As soon as possible or as agreed upon.

Application

Your application, including a cover letter describing your research interests and previous research experience, CV, publication list, copies of diploma or other relevant documents such as letters of recommendation, should be emailed to: [email protected]