The emerging ‘Synthetic Cell Programming’ lab, led by Dr. Santos-Moreno (santosmorenolab.org), is seeking for a highly-motivated postdoctoral researcher for engineering synthetic gene circuits to program time in E. coli cells. This position is funded by an ERC Starting Grant (project: TICK-TOCK Do and Die).

The successful candidate will work on designing and building synthetic gene circuits to program time in cells, and on characterizing these circuits, fine-tuning them, and connecting them to other circuits / actuator modules. The candidate is also expected to write articles, present results at seminars / conferences, contribute to the training of PhD candidates and undergraduate students, collaborate with other group members and labs, and apply for postdoc fellowships. If interested, the candidate can also participate in teaching and outreach activities.

Requirements:
1) A PhD in life sciences
2) One or more 1st-author publications in major peer-reviewed international journals
3) Experience:
– Essential: strong background in wet-lab synthetic or molecular biology
– Highly desirable: experience in designing gene circuits or in modelling them
– Desirable: experience in bacterial cultivation, microfluidics, dynamic
systems, synthetic memory, or biocontainment
3) Competencies & skills:
• High motivation and proactivity
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Strong organizational skills
• Scientific integrity and rigor
• A good command (spoken & written) of English language

What we offer:
• A full-time postdoc contract of up to 4 years
• Competitive salary
• 36 days/year of paid holidays: 22 days of personal choice + 14 bank holidays
• Full access to the Spanish national social security, including free-of-charge access to the health system and unemployment and retirement contributions
• Measures to reconcile work & family life, including parental leave and flexible working hours
• Mentorship and training, including access to free courses and resources, to accelerate your professional development

How to apply:
Please send your application to javier.santos@upf.edu with ‘Postdoc timers’ as the subject line. Provide your ID/Passport number in the body of the email, and include all of the following in a single PDF document named as ‘Postdoc-timers_yourName_yourSurname.pdf’:
1) Motivation letter
2) CV, including a publication list
3) Contact details of 3 references