Postdoctoral Research Associate in Single Molecule Trapping and Measurement in Solution

　　Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford

　　Salary: Grade 7: £32,236 - £39,609 p.a.

　　Professor Madhavi Krishnan's laboratory is looking for a talented and highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate with a strong background in physics, biophysics, or physical chemistry, to join them on a research project funded by EC for a period of one year with possible extension. The project is focused in taking forward an exciting emerging area of microscopy-based single molecule measurement.

　　The group works in the broad area of soft condensed matter at the nanometer scale and has a specific interest in measuring and understanding electrostatics in molecular-scale matter, e.g., biological macromolecules. Using the repulsive electrostatic interaction in solution, the group recently demonstrated the ability to spatially trap single molecules in solution without the use of external forces (Nature, 2010; Nature Nanotechnology, 2012; Nature Nanotechnology, 2017). This “field-free” trap now enables measurements of the physical properties of macromolecules such as their electrical charge, size and 3D conformation with unprecedented precision, one at a time and in real time. The experimental approaches involved centre around optical imaging and spectroscopy and nanofabrication techniques. The work also relies on theory and simulation, specifically focusing on numerical mean-field electrostatics calculations and Brownian Dynamics simulations. Find out more about the research group at http://research.chem.ox.ac.uk/madhavi-krishnan.aspx.

　　Duties will include managing own academic research and administrative activities. This involves small scale project management, to co-ordinate multiple aspects of work to meet deadlines and testing hypotheses and analyse scientific data from a variety of sources, reviewing and refining working hypotheses as appropriate.