A postdoctoral fellow in theoretical and experimental biological physics

Université de Strasbourg; France; Sur place; EUR 30 000 - 40 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A leading university in France is inviting applications for a postdoctoral fellow in theoretical and experimental biological physics. The successful candidate will conduct innovative research on genotype-phenotype interactions, focusing on yeast stress responses. Candidates should hold a PhD and have relevant skills in mathematical analysis, ODEs, and programming. This full-time position is temporary, starting on January 12, 2026, with an application deadline of December 10, 2025.

Qualifications

• No lower limit experience required but maximum of 2 years post-PhD.
• Strong theoretical and experimental knowledge.

Responsabilités

• Conduct microfluidic experiments on yeast.
• Validate and analyze numerical ODE models.
• Write scientific articles and software documentation.

Connaissances

Mathematical Analysis

ODE Theory

Stochastic ODEs

Systems Biology

Stress Biology

Fluorescent Microscopy

Programming in Python

Programming in MATLAB

Writing in LaTeX

Formation

PhD

Description du poste

Organisation/Company Université de Strasbourg Department Direction des ressources humaines Research Field Biological sciences Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Country France Application Deadline 10 Dec 2025 - :59 (Europe/Paris) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 12 Jan 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Position identification

Title of post :A postdoctoral fellow in theoretical and experimental biological physics

Type of contract :Fixed time contract

Category (A,B or C) :

Contract/project period :12 months Expected date of employment :12/01/2026

Proportion of work :full time

Workplace : GMGM UMR 7156

Desired level of education :PhD

Experience required :no lower limit, but no more than 2 years after the PhD defence

Contact(s) for information on the position (identity, position, e-mail address, telephone) :

Closing date for the receipt of applications :10/12/2025

Research project or operation

Genotype-phenotype relation is one of the key open questions in biology. Its understanding would elucidate many fundamental and applied problems. A notable example of the complexity of this relation is a variable resistance capacity of cells with identical genotypes to stressors, which allows bacteria to resist antibiotics and cancer cells to survive a drug treatment. In the mid-20th century it became clear that the resolution cannot be found within a single discipline. First multidisciplinary attempts did not result in a breakthrough. Only recent advances in physics and mathematics allowed to reconsider this task. This project proposes an innovative approach to study the genotype-phenotype interaction with a strong synthesis of molecular and cellular biology, single-cell physics, microfluidics and mathematics. From this joint point of view, it is very promising to treat a phenotype as a product of internal and external interactions of an organism, i.e. of its dynamics. Yeasts demonstrate a similar variability in resistance in response to oxidative stress, which makes them an ideal model object for the project, especially in conjunction with their well studied genetics and recently developed high-throughput single-cell phenotyping methods based on microfluidics. The output will be generalizable to a much broader context of other stress response behaviors, including organisms and communities under environmental changes and under anthropogenic pressure.

Activities

• Description of the research activities:
  • Stress-related microfluidic experiments on yeast.
  • Experimental validation of a numerical ODE model of yeast behavior and its correction.
  • Qualitative analysis of the model and its bifurcations in the light of the experiments.
  • Stochastic simulation of a noisy dynamics associated with the ODE.
  • Reiteration and redesign of the experimental part.
• Related activities:
  • Writing reports in form of scientific articles and sufficiently documented simulational software.

Skills

• Qualifications/knowledge:
  • General knowledge of Mathematical Analysis.
  • General theory of ODEs and Continuous Time Dynamical Systems.
  • Stochastict ODEs and their numerical solutions, Langevin dynamics in particular.
  • System Biology.
  • Stress Biology.
  • In general, a combination of solid theoretical and experimental knowledge relevant to this ambitioous interdisciplinary project.
• Operational skills/expertise:
  • Fluorescent microscopy imaging.
  • Programming in Python and MATLAB.
  • Writing articles in LaTeX.
  • To be a decent person.

Before applying, please, consider carefully the breadth and the depth of the required skills, sapienti sat.

Environment and context of work

• Presentation of the laboratory/unity:

  GMGM , UMR 7156 is dedicated to the study of the fundamental mechanisms of the functioning and dysfunction of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell genomes, as well as various intracellular processes. The Quantitative Biology of Cellular Growth team is engaged in research on several fundamental questions related to the control of proliferation and aging in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Our main research axes aim at i) unravelling the mechanisms that drive the entry into replicative senescence in budding yeast, ii) apply quantitative analyses to decipher the complexity of the physiological response to oxidative stress and starvation in yeast. The lab develops microfluidics devices for non-destructive single-cell imaging in controlled conditions that, combined with molecular genetic methods, allow to monitor the dynamics of these processes at the single cell scale.

• Hierarchical relationship:

  Direct supervision: Anton ZADORIN

• Special conditions of practice (notice attached):