Postdoctoral Training Fellow - A. Schaefer Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Lab.

Location: The Francis Crick Institute, Midland Road, London

Short summary

This position is available in Prof Andreas Schaefer’s laboratory. The Sensory Circuits and Neurotechnology Lab studies how information is represented and processed in the brain, focussing on sensory circuits in mice. To this end, the lab uses and develops anatomical, physiological, and behavioural techniques to dissect the structure and function of neural circuits. The PTF will report to the Group Leader and the Principal Laboratory Research Scientist, Carles Bosch, who leads the Functional Connectomics project in the lab.

The PTF will be part of an EPSRC-funded project jointly led by Andreas Schaefer’s and Alexandra Pacureanu’s lab at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The postholder will also work in close collaboration with Adrian Wanner and his group at the Swiss light source at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. The purpose of the project in general is to apply correlative connectomics approaches to sensory circuits and to further the development of X-ray Nanoholotomography together with in vivo imaging and volume electron microscopy.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading independent projects together with the PLRS
• Liaising with diverse collaborators, including chemists and X-ray physicists at the Francis Crick Institute, ESRF and PSI
• Systematically identifying, developing, testing and evaluating staining and embedding protocols for brain tissue
• Maintaining well-organised repositories for systematic analysis of protocols
• Performing different X-ray tomography and electron microscopy tests
• Quantitatively analysing X-ray and EM data
• Intellectually contribute to the lab’s efforts to develop X-ray connectomics with collaborators at ESRF and PSI
• Intellectually leading the understanding of embedding and staining approaches to enable X-ray connectomics   

About us

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under in one building in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; public engagement; and helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy. 

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please apply via our website.
• The closing date for applications is 07.04.2023
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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