Post-doctoral fellow in spectroscopy of iron and wood decayed by fungi

The AMBER project 

This post-doctoral position is part of the EU cofund research project AMBER, Advanced Multiscale Biological imaging using European Research infrastructures, will address scientific and sectoral gaps in biological imaging ranging from molecular, through cellular, to tissue, organ and organism levels of organisation, and is coordinated by LINXS Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science.

AMBER is funded by the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND scheme.

Around 20 postdocs will be recruited in the fourth call 2025, with each fellowship lasting 36 months.

AMBER has six core partners: Lund University/MAX IV, Sweden, the European Spallation Source (ESS), Sweden, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), France, the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines, (IMOL), Poland, and the Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, United Kingdom.

Your work may include clinical and biomedical projects. It may also include technique development work aimed at combining imaging techniques and data analysis to provide a more integrated picture of life processes in the context of health and disease. To be a postdoc fellow at the AMBER programme you will get unprecedented biological, and methodological capabilities, with a profound potential impact for Europe’s next generation of research and researchers. When you have completed the AMBER programme you will be extraordinarily well equipped to further your career in academia, at infrastructures, in the health and MedTech sectors, and beyond.

For more information about the total announced post-doctoral positions within in the AMBER co-fund project please visit https://www.euraxess.se/jobs/341970

The interviews will start in November 2025. For more information about AMBER, application and evaluation process etc please visit: ambercofund.eu

Qualification requirements

Minimum requirements are:

• candidate needs to have a maximum 8 years after a doctoral degree (PhD), as required by the project Grant Agreement signed with the European Commission,
• at least one original publication in a peer-reviewed journal,
• a background in the relevant methods,
• a complete application package submitted through the AMBER portal (including CV and detailed research plan), and finally,
• strict compliance with the MSCA mobility rule that the researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the host organisation's country for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the call deadline.

Each project will have additional specific requirements that candidates have to fulfill, be sure to check what these are before you apply.

Project: Speciation, mobilization, and translocation of iron in wood during decay by brown-rot fungi

The project is co-funded by FORMAS and AMBER. The main aim of the project is to understand the fate of iron during wood decay particularly focusing on brown-rot fungi. More specifically the project will use advanced spectroscopic techniques to explore how iron is mobilized, reduced, and translocated within the complex matrix of wood and in connection to fungal activity. A number of techniques will be used to answer these questions and trace speciation and localization of iron at nanoscale, including X-ray microscopy (STXM) and nanoSIMS with Fe isotopic labeling. At the same time, changes in iron chemistry and mobilization will be correlated with wood decay processes using super resolution infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR). The selected postdoctoral researcher will obtain experience working with wood samples and microbial organisms and will lead the data acquisition and analysis using the above-mentioned spectroscopic techniques, particularly AFM-IR and STXM. Furthermore, the selected candidate will work in a multidisciplinary environment, which is an asset for working in modern academia.

Description of PI and environment

You will be placed in the Biology Department under the supervision of Dimitrios Floudas and advised by Milda Pucetaite. Within the Biology Department you will be part of Functional Ecology section, which offers interdisciplinary environment and includes researchers with diverse research backgrounds and activities covering aspects of microbial ecology and aquatic ecology. The Biology Department offers access to a wide range of spectroscopy instruments, and is in close proximity to both MAXIV and ESS. Dimitrios Floudas is a fungal expert and the leader of the Environment and Climate Theme (ECL), which is funded by LINXS and offers ample opportunities to network with other researchers involved in spectroscopy applications in environmental science. Milda Pucetaite is a spectroscopy expert focusing on fungal research and is also a member of ECL.

Work duties

The main duties involved in a post-doctoral posistion is to conduct research. This includes performing microbiology work in combination with the use of spectroscopy approaches available at the Biology Department for their analysis. The postdoc will further contribute to preparing beamtime applications and performing experiments using X-ray techiques at MAX IV or other synchrotron facilities. The position includes opportunities to supervise graduate students, to disseminate research results at international and national conferences, and to develop skills in external research funding application writing. Teaching may also be included, but up to no more than 20% of working hours. The position shall include the opportunity for three weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning.

Qualifications required for this project

The selected candidate must have:

1. A PhD in Chemistry, Physics, or other fields deemed relevant to the project, with experience in at least one of the analytical techniques described in the project
2. Documented experience in analyzing spectroscopy data with at least one publication where such analyses were performed.
3. Fluent use of English for academic writing.

Additional merits for the selected candidate:

1. Experience with biological systems particularly microbiology
2. Experience working with wood tissues and preparation of wood sections.

Assessment criteria and other qualifications

This is a career development position primarily focused on research. The position is intended as an initial step in a career, and the assessment of the applicants will primarily be based on their research qualifications and potential as researchers.

Particular emphasis will be placed on research skills within the subject.

For appointments to a post-doctoral position, the following shall form the assessment criteria:

• A good ability to develop and conduct high quality research.
• Teaching skills.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen ongoing research within the department, and how they stand to contribute to its future development.

Terms of employment
This is a full-time, fixed-term employment of a maximum of 3 years. The period of employment is determined in accordance with the agreement “Avtal om tidsbegränsad anställning som postdoktor” (“Agreement on fixed-term employment as a post-doctoral fellow”) between Lund University, SACO-S and OFR/S, dated 1st February 2022.

Instructions on how to apply

For more information and documents/templates/europass link, please visit https://www.ambercofund.eu/for-applicants.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure that you upload all the required documents specified below i-ix.

If you are interested in applying for more than one position (maximum 3) you must be prepared to make a full application for each individual position.

Applications shall be written in English and all documents shall be in pdf format.

1. i) A Curriculum Vitae (europass format). Your CV shall be exported to a PDF file that you use in your application.
2. ii) A detailed research plan including any foreseen secondments (candidates can suggest more than the mandated one, they can also suggest their own secondments), schools and conferences as well as a templated budget plan. The research plan should be as concise as possible, 3 pages, including one-third page of summary/abstract.

Additional texts to include in the PDF are:

iii) Letter of Commitment from any additional secondment partners the candidate wishes to bring onboard.

1. iv) Evidence of English proficiency (minimum CEFR B22, also checked at interview).
2. v) A draft Individual Career Development Plan (ICDP).
3. vi) Two reference letters.

vii) Any additional documents to support the application.

viii) Ethical questionnaire (HE ethics checklist + research ethics commitment)

In addition, the application will require:

1. ix) Any candidate can apply for maximum of 3 positions. You must apply for each individual position. A list with order of preference of positions should be sent to the AMBER management. amber@linxs.se