PHD in Microfluidics and Acoustic Control

With significant progress in the time-resolved 3D structure determination of biological molecules in crystals, there is a growing need in developing efficient, simple, compact, and user-friendly devices for delivering microcrystals for the growing field of serial X-ray crystallography. This PhD project aims to develop novel concepts to sense and control the motion of protein microcrystals for improved X-ray measurements, by combining microfluidic, acoustic, and optical systems. The project will make use of 3D printing by two-photon stereolithography to rapidly prototype and develop devices that integrate with sample delivery systems.

About your role:

• Develop integrated acoustic focusing and bunching devices, along with sample delivery systems for serial crystallography at synchrotrons and X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs)
• Measurement and characterisation of microfluidic systems
• Deploy the integrated sample delivery devices at synchrotron and/or XFEL beamlines
• Preparing samples, and analysing the crystallography datasets
• Work with collaborators from KTH Sweden and TUHH on the project
• Plan and participate in experiments at beamlines at MAX IV, PETRA III, DESY and XFEL

About you:

• Masters in Physics, Engineering or a related field
• Strong interest in microfluidics, design and development of microfluidic systems, and optics
• Good experimental and Programming skills
• Excellent communication and teamworking skills