The (the Franklin) is a technology institute established by the UK Government as a unique centre committed to advancing tools that are needed to transform healthcare in the future.
Our teams are aligned across a number of technology and life science challenges as part of our strategic focus, with scientists, technologists and software engineers working together in a multi-disciplinary and collaborative environment at our state-of-the-art research facility at Harwell in Oxfordshire. For more information on the Franklin’s Challenges .
The Multidimensional Imaging (MDI) Challenge team, led by Professor Angus Kirkland, leads pioneering research in advancing electron ptychography, liquid phase electron microscopy, electron spectroscopy and diffraction underpinned by a strong fundamental theoretical platform.
We are currently looking for a Research Associate to support Dr Pedrazo-Tardajos's Nanoscale Electron Spectroscopic Mapping of Antibiotic Uptake and Resistance Mechanisms project.
Role Overview
Our team of physicists, engineers, biologists, and mathematicians focuses on electron microscopy theory, methods, and technology development. The successful applicant will work on methods to visualise antibiotic uptake, probed using electron spectroscopy.
The aim of this project is to visualise and quantify the uptake of antibiotics in different biological targets under both liquid and cryo-EM conditions, using novel correlative approaches focused on multidimensional electron spectroscopy. This role forms part of a wider research effort to reduce antimicrobial resistance across scales. You will contribute to the development and optimisation of novel TEM- and SEM-based microscopy and spectroscopy workflows, including EELS, under a range of conditions and across multiple dimensions in diverse environments, including liquid and cryo. You will also support data acquisition and analysis using the first chromatic aberration corrected microscope in the UK.
As a Research Associate at the Franklin, you will bring the scientific knowledge and skills needed to deliver a specific research project within a team delivering a research program. Through this work, you will build scientific independence, develop new science and leadership skills, and establish a growing external reputation. A team of scientists will support this work, enabling opportunities for future funding applications and career development.
Applications are encouraged from candidates with experimental backgrounds in physics, material science, biophysics, structural biology or related disciplines with an interest and experience of advanced EM methods. You will have access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, including: a double aberration-corrected 300kV Cryo (S)TEM, two 300kV conventional Cryo TEMs, three Cryo Dual beam FIBs and a 300kV chromatically corrected TEM for fast in situ observations alongside advanced sample preparation and computational facilities.
Projects Keywords
Electron Spectroscopy, Antibiotic Mapping/Resistance, Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy, Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Correlative Mapping