Postdoc in biophysics: Single-cell Tracking in Organoids.

Work Activities
Summary – In this project, you will use advanced 3D imaging and AI-driven cell tracking to reveal the remarkable self-organization of cells within intestinal organoids. Using a biophysics approach, you will study how stem cells move, grow, divide, and differentiate into specific functional cell types, and hence reveal how functional miniature organs are formed. Specifically, you will for the first time reveal how this spatio-temporal program is affected by key molecular signals from the immune system. You will work in a vibrant and supportive team of PhD students and postdocs with physics and biology backgrounds within the Tans and van Zon labs in the AMOLF institute in Amsterdam, and collaborate with leading groups in organoid biology.

Questions – According to the textbooks, organs like the intestine continuously regenerate new functional cells from stem cells. However, current methods like antibody staining and RNA sequencing are ill suited to address the inherent underlying spatio-temporal dynamics. These dynamics are arguably even more important to understand the interplay with immune signals, which are thought to affect the organ regeneration process. They are in turn central to the major and growing societal challenge of chronic inflammatory diseases such as intestinal bowel disease and Crohn’s disease. Many fascinating fundamental questions of broad relevance are therefore unresolved: Do signals like interleukins increase the stem cell pool or stimulate differentiation rates to boost renewal? Do they target specific cell types, or impact movement or position of cells? Do they cause cells within the intestine to signal to each other? Given the novelty of the AI-driven cell tracking approach, you will have a unique chance to address such questions first. In addition, the organoid field is currently undergoing a massive expansion yet generally lacks the physics-inspired dynamic methodology that you will help advance.

Approach – Central to the approach is 3D imaging with advanced confocal microscopy, and AI-driven cell tracking, but also organoid growth protocols, antibody staining, and genetic engineering of fluorescent markers, which you will do in collaboration with other PhD students and technical staff. This approach allows you to follow each cell, and hence analyze diverse features including lineage relations between cells of different type or within a specific spatial region, and how they correlate with the expression of key differentiation markers – and how these features are affected by molecular signals that are normally emitted by immune cells but that you add in controlled manner. These advances will allow you to push the boundaries of AI-enabled analysis of single-cell dynamics, which will be more generally relevant both to fundamental science and applications. This first has great potential to reveal a host of unexpected phenomena. More generally, you will develop new experimental schemes, perform cutting-edge experiments, analyze the complex spatio-temporal data, come up with new mechanistic models, and describe your findings in high-level scientific papers.

Our group - We form a lively and close-knit research group of about 10 PhD students and postdocs, which work together in small teams on various projects in a highly supportive and social atmosphere that extends to the other research groups at the AMOLF institute, which is housed in a modern building in the east of Amsterdam.

Qualifications
We are looking for outstanding experimental physicists, chemists, or biologists with demonstratable interest in quantitative biophysics questions, experience in programming and/or machine learning, handling of complex data, and who thrives in a diverse, collaborative, and supportive environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential.

Work environment
AMOLF is a part of NWO-I and initiate and performs leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 140 researchers and 80 support employees. www.amolf.nl

Our group - We form a lively and close-knit research group of about 10 PhD students and postdocs, which work together in small teams on various projects in a highly supportive and social atmosphere that extends to the other research groups at the AMOLF institute, which is housed in a modern building in the east of Amsterdam.

Tans group: https://www.sandertanslab.nl

Van Zon group: https://amolf.nl/research-groups/quantitative-developmental-biology

Working conditions

• The working atmosphere at the institute is largely determined by young, enthusiastic, mostly foreign employees. Communication is informal and runs through short lines of communication.
• The position is intended as full-time (40 hours / week, 12 months / year) appointment in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) for the duration of 2 years, with a salary in scale 10 (CAO-OI) which starts at 3170 Euro's gross per month, and a range of employment benefits. AMOLF assists any new foreign Postdoc with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.
• Funding is available to attend regularly international conferences.
• AMOLF assists any new foreign researcher with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information?
For further information about the position, please contact

Prof. dr. ir. Sander Tans

tans AT amolf.nl

Dr. Jeroen van Zon

J.v.Zon AT amolf.nl

Application
You can respond to this vacancy online via the button below.

Please annex your:

• Resume;
• Motivation on why you want to join the group (max. 1 page).

It is important to us to know why you want to join our team. Hence, we will only consider your application if it contains your motivation letter.

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis and as soon as an excellent match is made, the position will be filled.

Online screening may be part of the selection.

Diversity code
AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.

AMOLF has won the NNV Diversity Award 2022, which is awarded every two years by the Netherlands Physical Society for demonstrating the most successful implementation of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Commercial activities in response to this ad are not appreciated.

Postdoc in biophysics: Single-cell Tracking in Organoids.

Work Activities
Summary – In this project, you will use advanced 3D imaging and AI-driven cell tracking to reveal the remarkable self-organization of cells within intestinal organoids. Using a biophysics approach, you will study how stem cells move, grow, divide, and differentiate into specific functional cell types, and hence reveal how functional miniature organs are formed. Specifically, you will for the first time reveal how this spatio-temporal program is affected by key molecular signals from the immune system. You will work in a vibrant and supportive team of PhD students and postdocs with physics and biology backgrounds within the Tans and van Zon labs in the AMOLF institute in Amsterdam, and collaborate with leading groups in organoid biology.

Questions – According to the textbooks, organs like the intestine continuously regenerate new functional cells from stem cells. However, current methods like antibody staining and RNA sequencing are ill suited to address the inherent underlying spatio-temporal dynamics. These dynamics are arguably even more important to understand the interplay with immune signals, which are thought to affect the organ regeneration process. They are in turn central to the major and growing societal challenge of chronic inflammatory diseases such as intestinal bowel disease and Crohn’s disease. Many fascinating fundamental questions of broad relevance are therefore unresolved: Do signals like interleukins increase the stem cell pool or stimulate differentiation rates to boost renewal? Do they target specific cell types, or impact movement or position of cells? Do they cause cells within the intestine to signal to each other? Given the novelty of the AI-driven cell tracking approach, you will have a unique chance to address such questions first. In addition, the organoid field is currently undergoing a massive expansion yet generally lacks the physics-inspired dynamic methodology that you will help advance.

Approach – Central to the approach is 3D imaging with advanced confocal microscopy, and AI-driven cell tracking, but also organoid growth protocols, antibody staining, and genetic engineering of fluorescent markers, which you will do in collaboration with other PhD students and technical staff. This approach allows you to follow each cell, and hence analyze diverse features including lineage relations between cells of different type or within a specific spatial region, and how they correlate with the expression of key differentiation markers – and how these features are affected by molecular signals that are normally emitted by immune cells but that you add in controlled manner. These advances will allow you to push the boundaries of AI-enabled analysis of single-cell dynamics, which will be more generally relevant both to fundamental science and applications. This first has great potential to reveal a host of unexpected phenomena. More generally, you will develop new experimental schemes, perform cutting-edge experiments, analyze the complex spatio-temporal data, come up with new mechanistic models, and describe your findings in high-level scientific papers.

Our group - We form a lively and close-knit research group of about 10 PhD students and postdocs, which work together in small teams on various projects in a highly supportive and social atmosphere that extends to the other research groups at the AMOLF institute, which is housed in a modern building in the east of Amsterdam.

Qualifications
We are looking for outstanding experimental physicists, chemists, or biologists with demonstratable interest in quantitative biophysics questions, experience in programming and/or machine learning, handling of complex data, and who thrives in a diverse, collaborative, and supportive environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential.

Work environment
AMOLF is a part of NWO-I and initiate and performs leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 140 researchers and 80 support employees. www.amolf.nl

Our group - We form a lively and close-knit research group of about 10 PhD students and postdocs, which work together in small teams on various projects in a highly supportive and social atmosphere that extends to the other research groups at the AMOLF institute, which is housed in a modern building in the east of Amsterdam.

Tans group: https://www.sandertanslab.nl

Van Zon group: https://amolf.nl/research-groups/quantitative-developmental-biology

Working conditions

• The working atmosphere at the institute is largely determined by young, enthusiastic, mostly foreign employees. Communication is informal and runs through short lines of communication.
• The position is intended as full-time (40 hours / week, 12 months / year) appointment in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) for the duration of 2 years, with a salary in scale 10 (CAO-OI) which starts at 3170 Euro's gross per month, and a range of employment benefits. AMOLF assists any new foreign Postdoc with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.
• Funding is available to attend regularly international conferences.
• AMOLF assists any new foreign researcher with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information?
For further information about the position, please contact

Prof. dr. ir. Sander Tans

tans AT amolf.nl

Dr. Jeroen van Zon

J.v.Zon AT amolf.nl

Application
You can respond to this vacancy online via the button below.

Please annex your:

• Resume;
• Motivation on why you want to join the group (max. 1 page).

It is important to us to know why you want to join our team. Hence, we will only consider your application if it contains your motivation letter.

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis and as soon as an excellent match is made, the position will be filled.

Online screening may be part of the selection.

Diversity code
AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.

AMOLF has won the NNV Diversity Award 2022, which is awarded every two years by the Netherlands Physical Society for demonstrating the most successful implementation of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Commercial activities in response to this ad are not appreciated.

Medewerker HR

Work Activities
Als HR medewerker verzorg je administratieve processen rond werving en selectie en neem je deel aan selectiegesprekken. Ook informeer je buitenlandse medewerkers over hun verplichtingen na aankomst in Nederland en assisteer je hen daarbij, zoals bijvoorbeeld de aanvraag van hun verblijfsdocument en zorgverzekering. Tevens informeer je medewerkers over secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden en handel je aanvragen en declaraties daarvan af. Soms maak je (op verzoek) overzichten voor het management en signaleert daarin bijzonderheden. Bij al je werkzaamheden kan je eventuele knelpunten signaleren en verbetervoorstellen doen. In deze functie heb je grote vrijheid in het organiseren van je werkzaamheden en heb je veel ruimte voor initiatief.

Qualifications
De ideale kandidaat voor deze functie heeft:

• HBO werk- en denkniveau;
• Opleiding / Ervaring binnen HR;
• Goede beheersing van de Nederlandse en Engelse taal;
• Kennis van en inzicht in bedrijfsmatige processen rond HR;
• Accuratesse en flexibiliteit;
• Verantwoordelijkheidsgevoel, teamgeest en organisatietalent.

Work environment
De afdeling ondersteunt twee onderzoeksorganisaties; AMOLF en ARCNL. Bij deze organisaties op het Amsterdam Science Park werken in totaal circa 240 onderzoekers en 80 ondersteunende medewerkers. AMOLF initieert en verricht toonaangevend fundamenteel onderzoek aan nieuwe, strategisch belangrijke complexe molecuul- en materiaalsystemen, in samenwerking met de Nederlandse universiteiten en industrie. Zie ook www.amolf.nl.

Het Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL) verricht fundamenteel onderzoek aan de fysica en technologie van nano-lithografie, in het bijzonder voor toepassing in de halfgeleiderindustrie. Het ARCNL is een publiek-private samenwerking tussen ASML en meerdere kennisinstellingen. Zie ook www.arcnl.nl.

De afdeling HR ondersteunt leidinggevenden en medewerkers bij alle HR-aangelegenheden. Doordat bijna alle wetenschappers een tijdelijke arbeidsovereenkomst hebben, en de helft van hen uit het buitenland komt, besteedt de afdeling veel tijd aan de instroom - en het informeren - van nieuwe medewerkers.

Working conditions

• De werksfeer op het instituut wordt in hoge mate bepaald door jonge, enthousiaste, veelal buitenlandse medewerkers. De communicatie is informeel en verloopt via korte lijnen.
• Het betreft een dienstverband voor 32 - 40 uren per week van twee jaar met de intentie om aansluitend een vast dienstverband aan te bieden.
• Inschaling vindt plaats in schaal 8 of 9, minimaal € 3.294,00 en maximaal € 4.993,00 bruto per maand (afhankelijk van je opleiding en ervaring), te vermeerderen met het vakantiegeld (8%) en een eindejaarsuitkering (8,33%).
• Onze uitstekende secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden zijn hier te raadplegen. Training on the job en studiefaciliteiten zijn vanzelfsprekend.
• Voor aanstelling in deze functie is een ‘Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag’ vereist. De aanvraagkosten worden door AMOLF vergoed.

More information?
Voor meer informatie over de functie, kun je contact opnemen met Saskia Kemner, Hoofd HR: s.kemner@amolf.nl of 020-754 7410.

Application
Heb je interesse in deze functie, dan kan je vóór 31 december 2024 solliciteren via onderstaande knop.

Diversity code
AMOLF and ARCNL are highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.

Commercial activities in response to this ad are not appreciated.

Medewerker HR

Diversiteitscode
Wij streven naar een divers personeelsbestand: we willen talent en creativiteit ontwikkelen door mensen met verschillende achtergronden en culturen samen te brengen. We werven en selecteren op basis van competenties en talenten. We moedigen iedereen met de juiste kwalificaties ten zeerste aan om te solliciteren op de vacature, ongeacht leeftijd, geslacht, afkomst, seksuele geaardheid of fysieke vaardigheden.

Acquisitie naar aanleiding van deze advertentie wordt niet op prijs gesteld.

Postdoc: Discovering CAR T cell biophysics with single-molecule TIRF microscopy

Work Activities
As a postdoc in the Physics of Cellular Interactions group headed by Dr. Kristina Ganzinger and the Biophysics group headed by Sander Tans, you will analyse the spatiotemporal dynamics of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) signalling in live T cells with different biophysical techniques. The central question of this project is: How do signaling receptors organize in CAR immune synapses, and hence achieve successful immune cell activation? To answer it, you will study the immune synapses with single molecule microscopy, specifically the contact between CAR T immune cells and either supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) or living tumour cells. In addition, you will study binding avidity with the z-Movi method (https://lumicks.com/products/z-movi-cell-interaction-studies/).

Notably, a complex spatio-temporal dynamics is thought to be central to CAR T cell activation, but is difficult to measure and hence remains poorly understood. That the activation relies on the movement and association of many receptors and accesory proteins in an orchestrated manner is a fascinating notion. By addressing this question at the molecular level, you will have the opportunity to elucidate the underlying dynamic mechanisms for the first time. More generally, the model system for cell-cell contact dynamics that you will use and advance pushes the boundaries of biophysical measurement techniques, and can be applied to many other systems.

Equipping T cells from patients with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) has promised a new era of cancer therapies. CARs are synthetic transmembrane receptors that are designed to recognise a tumour antigen and activate T cell signalling pathways, directing T cells against the tumour. However, despite the quick success of specific CAR designs, it has become clear that it is extremely difficult to predict how changes to CAR designs affect their signalling and therefore efficiency. This lack of predictability is, at least in part, due to our very limited understanding of the molecular mechanisms of CAR signalling. The aim of this project is to reveal the dynamics of CAR function and signalling for the first time at the single-molecule level. You will use advanced single-molecule and single-cell imaging combined with novel synthetic biology approaches to directly measure the striking hypothesized CAR organisation into signalling clusters in membranes and downstream signalling dynamics to, among other questions, elucidate the role of the co-stimulatory domain of these receptors and parallel activation of co-stimulatory receptors. You will combine these experiments with investigating CAR T cell avidities using Lumicks z-Movi method in collaboration with Lumicks.

This project has now become possible owing to recent technical advances, including new in vitro assays and imaging approaches developed by our lab and others (JACS 2013, Nat Immun 2016, PNAS 2019, Nat Commun 2021, 2023). You will develop new microscopy-based assays to enable this first dynamic view on how CARs re-wire T-cell signalling cascades and to identify design principles for tuning CAR activation.

Qualifications
You need to meet the requirements for a doctors-degree (PhD) and must have research experience in a non-Dutch academic environment. We are looking for an biophysicist who has worked with single-molecule fluorescence techniques, or alternatively a (bio)chemist or molecular immunologist with a strong and demonstratable interest in single-molecule approaches. Experience with quantitative fluorescence microscopy and programming skills to handle automated analysis of image data is highly desired; knowledge of protein biochemistry and/or model lipid systems would be an advantage. You should like the idea of working in a collaborative, ambitious and international environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential.

Work environment
AMOLF is part of NWO-I and initiate and performs leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 140 researchers and 80 support employees. www.amolf.nl.

Ganzinger group – We are a supportive and social research group of about 8 PhD students and postdocs, which work together in small teams on various projects from immunological signalling to signalling in synthetic cells. The collaborative and social atmosphere includes to the other research groups at the AMOLF institute at the Science Park in Amsterdam. Our group has been making recent technical advances, including a new single-molecule tracking method based on DNA-PAINT that we recently developed (Nat Commun 2021, Nat Commun 2023), new in vitro assays (ACS Syn Biol 2021, ACS Omega 2024), and imaging approaches developed by our lab and others (JACS 2013, Nat Immun 2016, PNAS 2019), all to closely investigate the intricate molecular details of cellular signaling.

https://amolf.nl/research-groups/physics-of-cellular-interactions

Tans group: We form a lively and close-knit research group of about 10 PhD students and postdocs, which work together in small teams on various projects in a highly supportive and social atmosphere. The Tans group studies the dynamics of single proteins (Nature 2013, Nature 2016, Nature 2020) and single cells (Nature 2014, Curr. Biol. 2018, Nature 2020) using novel experimental approaches.

https://www.sandertanslab.nl

Working conditions

• The working atmosphere at the institute is largely determined by young, enthusiastic, mostly foreign employees. Communication is informal and runs through short lines of communication.
• The position is intended as full-time (40 hours / week, 12 months / year) appointment in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) for a maximum duration of 2 years.
• Salary is in scale 10 (CAO-OI) which starts at 4.065 Euro’s gross per month, and a range of employment benefits.
• AMOLF assists any new foreign Postdoc with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information?
For further information about the position, please contact Kristina Ganzinger: k.ganzinger@amolf.nl or Sander Tans: s.tans@amolf.nl.

Application
You can respond to this vacancy online via the button below.

Online screening may be part of the selection.

Diversity code
AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.

AMOLF has won the NNV Diversity Award 2022, which is awarded every two years by the Netherlands Physical Society for demonstrating the most successful implementation of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

Commercial activities in response to this ad are not appreciated.