Work Activities In this project, you will use advanced microscopy and quantitative analysis to solve an important fundamental question: how cells in embryos keep track of time, to execute their functions at exactly the right stage of development. You will address this question in the nematode worm
C. elegans. Using a quantitative, physics-inspired approach, you will measure the dynamics of molecules that function as timing regulators in growing and developing animals, to reveal how these molecules encode time with high accuracy. You will work in an enthusiastic and diverse group of PhD student and postdocs with backgrounds in physics and quantitative biology at the AMOLF institute in Amsterdam, and in close collaboration with research groups at the Hubrecht Institute, TU Delft and ENS Paris.
Background. During development from embryo to adult, a mindboggling multitude of processes unfolds with highly intricate timing, with failure to start and stop these processes at the correct time giving rise to lethality, malformations and disease. Yet, how cells measure time, to execute each process at exactly the right stage and for the correct duration, remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in biology. Information on time is likely encoded in the dynamics of specific timing proteins, whose concentrations rise, fall or oscillate within individual cells during development. In this picture, a cell deduces time simply by measuring the current concentration of timing proteins within the cells. However, this mechanism gives rise to many important unresolved questions. How can cells measure timing protein level accurately, despite the strong random variability in molecular dynamics that is inherent to cells? Can cells make more accurate measurements of time by combining concentration measurements of multiple timing proteins, each with their own dynamics? What molecular mechanisms do cells use to measure timing protein levels and can these be optimized to extract as much time information as possible? The comparative simplicity of
C. elegans development combined with our group’s unique quantitative expertise will enable you to answer these questions for the first time.
Approach. You will use a unique time-lapse microscopy approach developed in our group to visualize and quantify timing protein dynamics in single
C. elegans cells, while these cells undergo the precisely-timed division and differentiation events that are required for normal development. Here, you will make use of new fluorescent reporters developed by our collaborators at the Hubrecht institute, to quantify protein concentration dynamics with unparalleled sensitivity. You will develop quantitative analysis approaches to measure the time information encoded in timing protein dynamics, in collaboration with theoretical physicists at TU Delft. You will use mutants that perturb timing protein dynamics and, hence, time information, and study how this changes the cell’s division and differentiation timing, and how these changes give rise to developmental defects. You will connect your dynamics measurements to parallel experiments, performed at the Hubrecht institute, that study the action of timing protein using novel whole-genome techniques (ChIC-seq, EU-seq). In collaboration with ENS Paris, you will examine how dynamics is changed in different
C. elegans isolated from the wild that show changed timing of their development.
Our group. We are a social and diverse research group, with a supportive and collaborative atmosphere. We use a quantitative, physics-inspired approach to understand how living organisms reliably build their bodies during development, focusing both on the free-living nematode
C. elegans and in-vitro models such as intestinal organoids. We use advanced time-lapse microscopy (Nature Comm 2016, Elife 2022), AI-driven image analysis (PLOS ONE 2020, BioRxiv 2024), and quantitative analysis combined with mathematical models (Elife 2021, PNAS 2022, Science Advances 2023) to ultimately identify underlying molecular mechanisms.
Qualifications We are looking for outstanding physicists and biologists with strong interest in quantitative biophysics questions, and ideally with experience in programming and handling of complex data. You should like the idea of working in a collaborative, ambitious and international environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential.
Work environment AMOLF is a part of NWO-I and initiate and performs leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry. The institute is located at Amsterdam Science Park and currently employs about 140 researchers and 80 support employees.
www.amolf.nlWorking conditions - The working atmosphere at the institute is largely determined by young, enthusiastic, mostly foreign employees. Communication is informal and runs through short lines of communication.
- The position is intended as full-time (40 hours / week, 12 months / year) appointment in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) for the duration of four years
- The starting salary is 2.781 Euro’s gross per month and a range of employment benefits.
- After successful completion of the PhD research a PhD degree will be granted at a Dutch University.
- Several courses are offered, specially developed for PhD-students.
- AMOLF assists any new foreign PhD-student with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.
More information? For further information about the position, please contact Jeroen van Zon:
[email protected] and .
Application You can respond to this vacancy online via the button below.
Online screening may be part of the selection.Diversity code AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.
AMOLF has won the NNV Diversity Award 2022, which is awarded every two years by the Netherlands Physical Society for demonstrating the most successful implementation of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
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