PhD: Lensless 3D optical imaging

Work Activities
Computational optical imaging is a powerful tool to recover object structure from diffraction patterns without relying on conventional high-quality optics and microscope objectives. While many lensless approaches already work well for 2D imaging, achieving high-resolution volumetric reconstruction of complex structures in compact fiber-based format remains a major challenge.

In this project you will push the boundaries of optical microscopy and develop new approaches for 3D lensless imaging based on ptychography, structured illumination, fiber-based detection and physics-informed computational reconstruction. The work will combine optical experiments with algorithm development. On the experimental side, you will build and optimize ptychography setups using visible light, spatial light modulators, and multimode fibers. You will investigate optimized illumination and detection schemes that maximize information content and imaging performance. On the computational side, you will develop reconstruction algorithms based on compressive sensing and data-driven machine learning approaches for depth-resolved 3D imaging. You will exploit the diversity provided by structured speckle illumination together with sparsity priors to reconstruct complex optical fields and depth-dependent sample structure from a limited set of measurements.

The project includes the development of a compact all-fiber 3D imaging demonstrator aimed at applications in semiconductor metrology. You will therefore collaborate with ASML research on wafer metrology.

Qualifications
You have a MSc degree in physics, optics, photonics or a related field.

Work environment
ARCNL performs fundamental research, focusing on the physics and chemistry involved in current and future key technologies in nanolithography, primarily for the semiconductor industry. While the academic setting and research style are geared towards establishing scientific excellence, the topics in ARCNL’s research program are intimately connected with the interests of the industrial partner ASML. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 100 persons of which 65 are ambitious (young) researchers from all over the globe. www.arcnl.nl

Working conditions
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 four years, with a starting salary of gross € 3.115 per month and a range of employment benefits. After successful completion of the PhD research a PhD degree will be granted at a Dutch University. Several courses are offered, specially developed for PhD-students. ARCNL assists any new foreign PhD-student with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information?
For further information about the position, please contact Lyuba Amitonova: l.amitonova@arcnl.nl

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

Online screening may be part of the selection.

Diversity code
ARCNL 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.

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Nanoscale Charge and Heat Transfer at Metal-Semiconductor Interfaces

Work Activities
The Hybrid Nanosystems group at NWO-Institute AMOLF is looking for a PhD candidate to unravel how the atomic-scale structure of metal-semiconductor interfaces governs charge and heat transfer, using cutting-edge correlative single-particle optical spectroscopy and in situ electron microscopy.

Metal-semiconductor interfaces are central to technologies ranging from computer chips to photocatalytic devices. These atomically thin interfaces are decisive for device performance, as they control how efficiently charge and heat are transported, yet the fundamental connections between atomic-scale interface structure and these transport properties remain poorly understood. This project investigates model metal-semiconductor nanosystems using single-particle optical spectroscopy correlated with transmission electron microscopy on the same individual nanoparticle, providing direct insight into how interface chemistry and structure govern charge transfer. Pioneering in situ TEM experiments with pulsed laser excitation will give access to heat transfer across the same class of interfaces under controlled conditions.

The project is a collaboration between AMOLF and ARCNL with ASML as an industry partner, with regular meetings across all partners to connect fundamental findings to broader technological challenges.

Qualifications
You have a MSc degree in physics, nanoscience, or a related field.

Work environment
You will perform this research in the Hybrid Nanosystems research group headed by Wiebke Albrecht at AMOLF. The Hybrid Nanosystems group uses light as a tool to probe, program, and reshape nanomaterials. By combining advanced electron microscopy, single-particle optical spectroscopy, and electromagnetic simulations, we uncover how the atomic-scale structure of nanoparticles governs their response to light, and how light can drive these structures to transform.

AMOLF is a national institute that is part of NWO-I. Its mission is to initiate and perform 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

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 four years
• The starting salary is 3.115 Euro’s gross per month and a range of employment benefits.
• After successful completion of the PhD research a PhD degree will be granted at a Dutch University.
• Several courses are offered, specially developed for PhD-students.
• AMOLF assists any new foreign PhD-student with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information?
For further information about the position, please contact Wiebke Albrecht: w.albrecht@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.

PhD student: Single-molecule biophysics of ribosome cooperation

Work Activities
Summary - In this project, you will perform innovative (bio)physics experiments to elucidate the dynamic action of individual ribosomes. The key methodologies are optical tweezers, single-molecule fluorescence, as well as selective ribosome profiling – an exciting new RNA sequencing method. Working in the Tans biophysics lab @ AMOLF Amsterdam, you will visualize the real-time translation activity of ribosomes, how multiple ribosomes work together, detect the folding of individual polypeptide chains, and show how chaperones guide this process. You will work in an international team, with other groups specialized in ribosome profiling and cryo-EM techniques. The aim is to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the correct and erroneous production of new proteins.

Questions - According to textbooks, ribosomes work individually to produce proteins. However, recent insights from our lab and others show multiple ribosomes cooperate as they translate mRNA. This cooperation may well be essential to produce multi-protein complexes faithfully. In our group, we aim to elucidate the highly diverse and broad implications. Questions we are interested in include: Do ribosomes synchronize their translation activity in real-time, like a sequence of cars in traffic? Are mRNA secondary structures and/or direct interactions between ribosomes involved? How do the two (or more) protein chains synthesized by these multiple ribosomes fold together to form protein complexes? How many ribosomes cooperate together? Can we see cooperation between ribosomes that translate different RNA messages? Given the novelty of these fundamental questions in this rapidly expanding field, you will have a unique chance to address them first.

Approach - You will directly follow the unknown dynamics of ribosome translation, protein folding and assembly, and chaperone guidance. This is enabled using optical tweezers combined with single-molecule fluorescence, which detect changes in individual molecules at nanometer and millisecond resolution. In collaboration with our partners, you will also use selective ribosome profiling – an RNA sequencing method that provides high-level data across the genome an in-vivo. This first look may reveal a host of unexpected phenomena. You will develop new experimental schemes, Use cutting-edge single-molecule fluorescence and manipulation methods, Adapt existing biochemical protocols, Analyze the complex temporal data, formulation of new models, And explain your findings in high-level scientific papers.

International team - You will be part of a collaboration with leading groups at Heidelberg University and the ETH in Zurich, which use novel sequencing and cryo-EM methods. By working within this motivated group of young scientists, you will obtain a unique training, understanding and skill set in this expanding field. By integrating these approaches, you will provide insights of unprecedented detail, spanning from the cellular to the atomic level, from in vivo to in vitro, from genome-wide patterns to molecular mechanisms, and from bacteria to human cells.

Image left show ribosome (blue, orange) that synthesized protein chain (yellow) by translating the RNA message (red). Image right shows dynamic ribosome interactions.

Qualifications
We have a number of positions available (PhD and PD). We are looking for outstanding experimental physicists or chemists with an interest in single-molecule techniques, ambition to make breakthrough findings, programming skills to handle complex data, and who thrive in a diverse, collaborative, and supportive environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential. You meet the requirements for an MSc-degree to ensure eligibility for a Dutch PhD examination.

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. The Tans group at the AMOLF institute Amsterdam has been at the forefront of studying chaperone-guided protein folding using optical tweezers. This technique allows one to mechanically manipulate individual proteins, and hence follow the movements and folding steps as they fold. We have shown striking sequences of molecular events that underlie chaperone functions, which are invisible with other methods.

https://www.sandertanslab.nl

https://amolf.nl/research-groups/biophysics

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 four years
• The starting salary is 2.781 Euro’s gross per month and a range of employment benefits.
• After successful completion of the PhD research a PhD degree will be granted at Delft University of Technology.
• Several courses are offered, specially developed for PhD-students.
• Funding is available to attend regularly international conferences.
• AMOLF assists any new foreign PhD-student with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information?
https://www.sandertanslab.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: Revealing ribosomes using single-molecule and RNA sequencing

Work Activities
Summary - In this project, you will perform innovative (bio)physics experiments to elucidate the dynamic action of individual ribosomes - specifically their interactions within polysomes. The key methodologies are optical tweezers, single-molecule fluorescence, as well as selective ribosome profiling – an exciting new RNA sequencing method. Working in the Tans biophysics lab @ AMOLF Amsterdam, you will visualize the real-time translation activity of ribosomes, how multiple ribosomes work together, detect the folding of individual polypeptide chains, and show how chaperones guide this process. You will work in an international team, with other groups specialized in ribosome profiling and cryo-EM techniques. The aim is to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the correct and erroneous production of new proteins.

Questions - According to textbooks, ribosomes work individually to produce proteins. However, recent insights from our lab and others show multiple ribosomes cooperate as they translate mRNA. This cooperation within larger ‘polysomes’ may well be essential to produce multi-protein complexes faithfully. In our group, we aim to elucidate the highly diverse and broad implications. Questions we are interested in include: Do ribosomes synchronize their translation activity in real-time, like a sequence of cars in traffic? Are mRNA secondary structures and/or direct interactions between ribosomes involved? How do the two (or more) protein chains synthesized by these multiple ribosomes fold together to form protein complexes? How many ribosomes cooperate together? Can we see cooperation between ribosomes that translate different RNA messages? Given the novelty of these fundamental questions in this rapidly expanding field, you will have a unique chance to address them first.

Approach - You will directly follow the unknown dynamics of ribosome translation, protein folding and assembly, and chaperone guidance. This is enabled using optical tweezers combined with single-molecule fluorescence, which detect changes in individual molecules at nanometer and millisecond resolution. In collaboration with our partners, you will also use selective ribosome profiling – an RNA sequencing method that provides high-level data across the genome an in-vivo. This first look may reveal a host of unexpected phenomena. You will develop new experimental schemes, Use cutting-edge single-molecule fluorescence and manipulation methods, Adapt existing biochemical protocols, Analyze the complex temporal data, formulation of new models, And explain your findings in high-level scientific papers.

International team - You will be part of a collaboration with leading groups at Heidelberg University and the ETH in Zurich, which use novel sequencing and cryo-EM methods. By working within this motivated group of young scientists, you will obtain a unique training, understanding and skill set in this expanding field. By integrating these approaches, you will provide insights of unprecedented detail, spanning from the cellular to the atomic level, from in vivo to in vitro, from genome-wide patterns to molecular mechanisms, and from bacteria to human cells.

Image left show ribosome (blue, orange) that synthesized protein chain (yellow) by translating the RNA message (red). Image right shows dynamic ribosome interactions.

Qualifications
We have a number of positions available (PhD and PD). We are looking for outstanding experimental physicists or chemists with an interest in single-molecule techniques, ambition to make breakthrough findings, programming skills to handle complex data, and who thrive 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. The Tans group at the AMOLF institute Amsterdam has been at the forefront of studying chaperone-guided protein folding using optical tweezers. This technique allows one to mechanically manipulate individual proteins, and hence follow the movements and folding steps as they fold. We have shown striking sequences of molecular events that underlie chaperone functions, which are invisible with other methods.

https://www.sandertanslab.nl

https://amolf.nl/research-groups/biophysics

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 four years
• 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?
https://www.sandertanslab.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: Inverse design of broadband multi-parameter nanophotonic sensors

Work Activities
The Photonic Forces group at AMOLF is looking for a motivated and talented postdoctoral researcher to join an ambitious interdisciplinary project on next-generation optical sensing technologies. In this project, you will develop novel theoretical and numerical methods for the inverse design of nanophotonic structures enabling broadband, multiparameter sensing in fiber-based systems.

The project is a collaboration between AMOLF, TU Eindhoven, and industrial partners, aiming to establish a new paradigm for nanophotonic fiber sensing. Modern industry increasingly relies on real-time monitoring of various quantities, such as pressure, temperature, and acceleration. While optical sensors have great advantages, they are challenged by high cost and the difficulty to distinguish various physical quantities. We address these challenges by developing broadband nanophotonic sensors that disentangle multiple physical parameters from complex optical spectra. This approach raises fundamental questions on how information about parameters is optimally encoded and retrieved from light. In particular, it requires understanding how multimode photonic systems respond to mechanical and thermal perturbations, what sets the ultimate precision limits of such measurements, and how nanophotonic structures can be designed to approach these limits.

As a postdoc, you will develop theoretical models and inverse design strategies for optomechanical nanophotonic transducers. You will investigate how to engineer their spectral response for multiparameter sensing, guided by fundamental bounds on estimation precision, and implement advanced computational design methods to realize optimal structures. Your work will directly connect fundamental concepts in nanophotonics and measurement theory to the development of new sensing technologies, in close collaboration with experimental researchers and industrial partners.

Our group offers an open and collaborative environment in which we focus on hands-on learning and personal growth of all group members. We are looking for excited and talented candidates, who are eager to develop new skills and engage new challenges in close collaboration with colleagues.

Please send your application at the latest by May 28, 2026.

Qualifications
We seek an excellent candidate with a background in physics or engineering, with relevant experience in nanophotonic theory and/or novel automated design approaches. You need to have a doctoral degree, or have met all the requirements and will receive the doctoral degree shortly. The successful candidate has a collaborative spirit, and will liaise with collaborators. We strongly believe in the benefits of an inclusive and diverse workplace, and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

Work environment
The Photonic Forces team led by prof. Ewold Verhagen studies light-matter interactions at the nanoscale, in devices ranging from photonic crystals and metamaterials to high-quality optical resonators. We investigate the fundamental physics associated with such interactions, which are enhanced through optical field confinement in tailored nanophotonic systems, as well as the applications they allow. In particular, we study new ways to measure and control both light and motion down to the fundamental limits governed by physical laws and symmetries. Theory and experiment go hand in hand in many projects in the group. Within the group as well as among the different groups at AMOLF, we have a strong focus on stimulating development of junior researchers in all professional aspects, as well as collaborations with other researchers at AMOLF and beyond. We strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where passion and enjoyment of science can shine. For more information, see www.optomechanics.nl.

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

Working conditions

• The working atmosphere at AMOLF 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 1.5 years
• Salary is in scale 10 (CAO-OI) which starts at 4.552 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 Ewold Verhagen: verhagen@amolf.nl.

Application
You can respond to this vacancy online via the button below, at the latest by May 28, 2026.

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.