Jobs in Structural Biology and Related Fields

Open position for the cryo-EM expert

École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Swaziland

Application deadline: 17 May 2023

The Dubochet Center for Imaging is a common initiative of the he Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the university of Lausanne (UNIL) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE). The DCI- Lausanne is located on the University of Lausanne campus and EPFL campus benefiting from the research excellence of both institutions and offering cryo-Em service to the entire lemanic arc. UNIL is a leading international teaching and research institution, with over 5,000 employees and 17,000 students split between its Dorigny campus, CHUV and Epalinges. As an employer, UNIL encourages excellence, individual recognition and responsibility. EPFL is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs 6,000 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of 16,000 people, including over 10,000 students and 3,500 researchers from 120 different countries.

Your mission:

To support the Dubochet Center for Imaging Lausanne (DCI-Lausanne) in high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structural analysis of biological specimens by helping to advance cryo-EM to atomic resolution. You will be responsible for installing, configuring, maintaining and overseeing computational resources in the cryo-EM facility, including software and hardware. You will also be responsible for troubleshooting, training and assisting users, participating in the development of new computational tools and methods in cryo-EM, optimizing the image-processing pipeline, and performing other duties as assigned.

Main Tasks:

• Participate in and assist with cryo-EM image processing workflow.
• Train, assist and oversee users in the usage of computational resources.
• Develop and implement new scripts, approaches, and/or strategies to facilitate all aspects of cryo-EM data handling to help advance cryo-EM to atomic resolution.
• Work and collaborate with the IT team at UNIL and EPFLon data processing, data transfer, and data storage.
• Perform other related duties as assigned in order to meet the goals of the department and institution.
• Computer analysis of recorded image data.
• 3D reconstructions of proteins and biological samples from recorded data
• Building of atomic models into reconstructed densities

Depending on your skills, you could help the DCI team for:

• Alignment of cryo-EM instruments at the DCI
• Preparation of biological samples for electron microscopy (EM) analysis
• Image data collection by negative stain EM and by cryo-EM
• Setup and monitoring of automated cryo-EM and cryo-electron tomography (cryo- ET) data
• collection sessions

Qualifications

• Service-oriented and Enthusiastic person with solid technical expertise in microscopy/image analysis.
• Experience with high-end electron microscopy, ideally with SPA and cryo-ET expertise.
• Previous experience with image processing. Some coding experience with Python is an asset. Ideally familiar with handling large image datasets.
• Excellent communication skills. Eager to interact with peers and to adsorb and transmit knowledge from experts to regular users.
• Team player

Your profile:

A Bachelor's degree in biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, or a related field is required for this position. A Master's degree or PhD is preferred. Experience working with HPC clusters and Linux environments is necessary. Familiarity with popular software for image processing, such as cryoSPARC, Relion, EMAN, EMAN2, etomo, etc., is also required.

They offer:

The EPFL and UNIL are world's top scientific universities, located in Lausanne, Switzerland, a beautiful and vibrant city on the shores of scenic Lake Geneva, situated in the heart of Europe within an Alpine setting. French is the main language spoken in the city of Lausanne, while English is the main language at the UNIL, EPFL and in our team. The position offers a competitive salary, and EPFL as well as UNIL are committed to being an equal opportunity employer.

You will join a collaborative, international, and diverse research team with interdisciplinary expertise in biology, physics, computer science, and engineering. Our center operates outstanding equipment, including two 300kV Titan Krios with Cold-FEG and Falcon 4i direct electron detectors, and a Glacios. We are working on optimizing the pipeline of data collection and on-the-fly image processing. We currently own four Linux servers with 24 GPU cards in total, two data storage servers with about 2PB of capacity, and a few graphic workstations with two GPUs each.

For more information about both of our research groups, including other active research themes, please visit the link

Start date: The position is available from July 2023, the start date is flexible.

Applications should include PDF documents with a Cover letter, a CV, and the contact information of three references.

Term of employment: Fixed-term (CDD)

Work rate: 100%

Duration: 1 year, renewable up to a maximum of 4 years.

Contact:

For questions or additional information, please contact Dr. Alexander Myasnikov at alexander.myasnikov@epfl.ch or Prof. Henning Stahlberg at henning.stahlberg@epfl.ch Dr. Christel Genoud at christel.genoud@unil.ch