Are you interested to combine physics, engineering, and molecular biology to gain insight into how life works at the nanoscale? To learn how the machinery of life operates at the molecular scale, we need to understand dynamic structural changes underlying many essential biomolecular processes in the cell. This requires new experimental methods, as current technology only facilitates static imaging. As a PhD student at TU Delft, you will develop the methods to bring about a step change in dynamic imaging of biomolecular processes in reconstituted systems and in cells. You will collaborate with leading scientists and help drive correlative high-resolution imaging at ultrafast timescales.

You will conduct research within the scope of a dedicated TU Delft-Utrecht University consortium, working closely with fellow researchers at the Marileen Dogterom and Anna Akhmanova Labs. In your research you will focus on method development, in which you will combine fluorescence microscopy and cryogenic electron microscopy/tomography for correlative snapshot imaging of dynamic biomolecular systems. Having designed and built the experimental setup, you will apply it to samples prepared by colleagues in the consortium and use cryo-ET imaging to map and understand structural transitions and stabilisation at microtubule ends.

Your home base will be the Jakobi Lab at TU Delft | Kavli Institute of Nanoscience. We are a multidisciplinary and internationally diverse team of scientists with backgrounds ranging from molecular biology and physics to mechanical engineering. Our drive is to push boundaries in our aim to visualise molecular processes at the highest possible resolution. As part of the Department of Bionanoscience and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, we enjoy access to state-of-the-art infrastructure for nanofabrication, biochemistry, imaging, and high-performance computing. We are also committed to world-class education, to which you will contribute, coaching undergraduate and graduate students. Fostering a friendly, non-hierarchical, and collaborative atmosphere, we support each other by exchanging ideas and knowledge in the pursuit of our ambitious goals. And you will get all the support and training you need for your personal and professional growth.

• You hold an MSc in biophysics, nanobiology, physics, nanosystems engineering or another relevant subject.
• You thrive on conducting pioneering research and pushing scientific boundaries, translating ideas into prototypes and physical experiments.
• You have a strong interest, or experience in method development geared to molecular imaging of biological systems.
• You preferably have experience of MEMS prototyping and cleanroom processes.
• You have experience, or a keen interest in cryo-EM/ET imaging.
• You harness your communication skills to effectively collaborate with people from different cultural and scientific backgrounds.
• You have a very good command of English because you will be working in an international environment.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Applied Sciences

With more than 1,100 employees, including 150 pioneering principal investigators, as well as a population of about 3,600 passionate students, the Faculty of Applied Sciences is an inspiring scientific ecosystem. Focusing on key enabling technologies, such as quantum- and nanotechnology, photonics, biotechnology, synthetic biology and materials for energy storage and conversion, our faculty aims to provide solutions to important problems of the 21st century. To that end, we educate innovative students in broad Bachelor's and specialist Master's programmes with a strong research component. Our scientists conduct ground-breaking fundamental and applied research in the fields of Life and Health Science & Technology, Nanoscience, Chemical Engineering, Radiation Science & Technology, and Engineering Physics. We are also training the next generation of high school teachers.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Applied Sciences.