Postdoc in Structured Biointerfaces at Department of Pharmacy – structure focussed position

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen

We are looking for a highly motivated and dynamic researcher for a three year position, who will bring skills in interfacial structural techniques including scattering to the Structured Biointerfaces group to commence  February 2022 or as soon as possible hereafter.

The Structured Biointerfaces group is a newly formed research group within the Department of Pharmacy led by Professor Ben J. Boyd who recently was awarded a Novo Nordisk Laureate Research Fellowship. The group aims to improve the understanding of the surface of particles in physiological environments for improved performance of formulated products across a range of fields including the pharmaceutical and food industries. We are in an establishment phase and will increase in size to form a team with 4-5 postdoctoral researchers and 4-5 PhD students. Personal and professional development are key ambitions which reinforce our team approach to our science. We value individual input and opinion to help the team to grow.

Information on the department can be found at: https://pharmacy.ku.dk/%20 pharmacy.ku.dk

Our researchThe group’s focus is on an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the surface structure and chemistry of particles in physiological environments, particularly gastrointestinal fluids, and the consequences for interaction with biological tissues. The group uses a range of structural and analytical techniques in order to understand these aspects of particles in pharmaceutical products and food, including international synchrotron and neutron scattering facilities, advanced microscopy as well as lipidomic and proteomic analysis to understand composition of the interface. Understanding how the structure and chemistry at the interface then impacts on interactions with gut biointerfaces (microbiota, mucus, epithelial surfaces etc) is our unifying theme and goal.

The ‘Structured Biointerfaces’ group’s research focus is part of the overall mission of the Department of Pharmacy, which is to advance the pharmaceutical sciences by performing drug-related research and research-based teaching. This happens within a range of topics including: pharmaceutical technology and formulation, drug delivery, advanced drug analysis, clinical and social pharmacy and regulatory science.

Your jobYour position will entail providing expert input into the group and conducted research that utilises your background in scattering and other surface specific techniques. You will organise applications for access to major facilities, conduct laboratory studies to prepare materials, establishing new protocols for particle preparation, conduct structural studies on these systems, developing new methods where required and analyse the data using modelling approaches where required. You will have an outward looking collaborative mindset, willing to interact with researchers in adjacent and tangential fields to make the most of this opportunity. You will lead publication of the research.

As a senior postdoctoral researcher, you will also provide supervision of Masters and/or PhD students on a day to day basis, assisting with training, hosting technical meetings within the group and with collaborators. Leadership of the structural aspects of our overall program under guidance will offer an important development aspect to this position.

Profile We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic scientist with the following competencies and experience:

Essential experience and skills:

• A PhD conducted on a topic related to structured materials, films, or coatings, studied using scattering or microscopy techniques.
• Postdoctoral experience in designing and executing scattering and/or other surface specific techniques, especially on particle-based systems, with subsequent analysis using modelling and/or simulation techniques.
• Experience in the preparation of proposals for merit instrument time at major facilities (for example synchrotron or neutron sources).
• Your publication record will reflect the above elements and will demonstrate your ability to complete scattering-based projects and to adopt a high level of responsibility for publishing the outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience in working in teams, preferably in a laboratory leadership role will be essential.
• You have an active interest in working with teams and get a buzz out of providing essential elements across a number of projects to enable their completion. You may be involved in a diverse range of projects, not necessarily leading them but taking responsibility for the structural elements and sharing the outcomes.
• A commitment to working within health and safety rules, and encouraging initiatives to improve workspace safety and environment.
• A willingness to participate in experiments outside of normal hours and at major national and international research infrastructure, for example European synchrotron and neutron facilities.
• Proficient communication skills and ability to work in teams.
• Excellent English written and spoken skills with Swedish and/or Danish being an advantage.

Desirable experience and skills:

• Experience in presenting research at international conferences in English
• Advanced microscopy experience (e.g. cryo-TEM, cryo-FESEM) would be advantageous.
• Demonstrated experience with aligned surface specific techniques, including ellipsometry, quartz crystal microbalance, XPS, TOF-SIMS, MALDI-mass spectrometry or spectroscopic evaluation of surfaces would be a distinct advantage
• Experience in preparation and characterisation of pharmaceutically-relevant dispersed particle systems, such as suspensions, emulsions, liposomes, polymer particles etc.
• Formal training in personality types and relationships within teams (e.g. Myers Briggs, Five Voices or similar) is also desirable.

Place of employment

The place of employment is at Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and offices in the North Campus of University of Copenhagen with easy access to transportation and the rest of Copenhagen.

Terms of employment The employment as postdoc is a full time and fixed-term position for three years. Starting date is February 2022 or as soon as possible.

Salary, pension and terms of employment will be in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations). Currently, the monthly salary starts at 33,700 DKK/ approx. 4,935 Euro (April 2021-level). Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated. The employer will pay an additional 17.1 % to your pension fund.

Non-Danish and Danish applicants may be eligible for tax reductions, if they hold a PhD degree and have not lived in Denmark the last 10 years.

The position is covered by the “Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at the Universities” of January 2020.

QuestionsFor further information please contact mailto:[email protected] [email protected] , http://www.sund.ku.dk/ <br">www.sund.ku.dk <>< a=""> />
Foreign applicants may find this link useful: http://www.ism.ku.dk/ ">www.ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility).

Application procedureYour online application must be submitted in English by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. Furthermore your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:

Application deadline: 30 November 2021, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

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