Research Associate in Single Photon Imaging

Salary: Grade UE07: £36,333.00 - £43,155.00 Per Annum

College of Science & Engineering / School of Engineering / Institute of Micro and Nano Systems

Fixed Term Contract: Full Time - 35 Hours per Week

Fixed Term Contract until October 2024

The Opportunity:

This Research Associate position will contribute to the BBSRC ISO-FLIM project within the Institute of Micro and Nano Systems at the University of Edinburgh, which is funded by BBSRC and in collaboration with Prof. Simon Ameer-Beg’s group in the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London. The project involves development of an isotropic resolution hybrid fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope using time-correlated single photon counting (SPAD) detector arrays.

A new generation of advanced SPAD image sensors developed in the Henderson group will be applied to 3D localisation of fluorescent protein biosensors in collaboration with Dr Andrea Serio at the Francis Crick Institute and at King’s College London. The aim is to elucidate the the fundamental mechanisms of energy metabolism, by visualising fast molecular dynamics associated with neuronal activity within live neural cultures. For the first time, we will acquire fluorescence lifetime data from live stem-cell derived neurons in 3D cultures with a massively parallel video-rate multiphoton system employing a truly isotropic light-sheet modality. This new imaging platform will allow acquisition of live quantitative data on calcium, ATP metabolism and any other fast-changing dynamic processes directly connected to neuronal activity, through simultaneous imaging of large multicellular volumes. 

You will join an existing research team in Edinburgh working on CMOS integrated circuits and SPAD sensors. The candidate will support the team in King’s College London in the interfacing of the SPAD arrays to the microscopy system and associated signal processing and control electronics. Frequent visits to the laboratories in King’s College London will be required. You will be expected to write, publish and present research papers in top quality international conferences and journals.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• A relevant undergraduate degree and a PhD in Engineering, Physics or Computer Science or a clearly related area.
• Experience using tools for compiling hardware description languages on FPGA (e.g. Xilinx ISE).
• Experience using software tools for data acquisition and image processing e.g. Labview and Matlab.
• Excellent interdisciplinary communication skills and ability to communicate across discipline

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