Job offer

European Commission; France; Sur place; EUR 16 000 - 24 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A leading research laboratory in France seeks a PhD candidate for interdisciplinary research on T cell adhesion mechanics. The role involves experimental work and collaboration with experts in immunology and bioengineering, focusing on cellular mechanics and adhesion forces. Candidates should possess a solid background in experimental physics or bioengineering and be willing to learn relevant techniques.

Qualifications

• Experience in cell culture techniques is preferred.
• Basic knowledge of programming (Python, MATLAB) is essential for data analysis.
• Strong communication skills for effective collaboration are required.

Responsabilités

• Conduct interdisciplinary research using micropipette-based single-cell rheometer.
• Measure adhesive properties of T cells and analyze mechanical measurements.
• Collaborate with immunologists and theoreticians.

Connaissances

Cell culture techniques

Programming languages

Communication skills

Formation

Background in experimental physics or bioengineering

Outils

Python

MATLAB

ImageJ/Fiji

Description du poste

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique Research Field Physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Country France Application Deadline 1 Aug 2025 - 00:00 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Nov 2025 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

The Hydrodynamics Laboratory (LadHyX) is located on the Ecole Polytechnique campus in Palaiseau, near Paris, France. Julien Husson's research group specializes in experimental cell mechanics. The thesis research will be conducted at LadHyX in collaboration with immunologists from Claire Hivroz's group at Institut Curie in Paris, biologists providing cellular and molecular expertise, and theoreticians led by David Gonzalez-Rodriguez at the University of Lorraine in Metz for mechanical measurement analysis.

T lymphocytes identify foreign antigens through physical interactions with target cells, forming an immunological synapse. The strength and spatial organization of molecular bonds within this interface determine immune response outcomes, such as whether a cytotoxic T cell should destroy or ignore a cancer cell. It is thus important to quantify the strength of the adhesion within the immunological synapse, depending on the composition and on the single-bond binding energy.

The aims of the projects are to:
- develop methods to measure adhesion forces between T cells and antibody-coated microbeads,
- extracting single-molecule binding energies from cell adhesion measurements,
- analyze how adhesive patches evolve over time,
- investigate how different ligand-receptor contributions (activating and co-activating molecules, adhesion molecules) combine in the immunological synapse.

We will address the following research questions:
- how do cellular viscoelastic properties influence adhesive interactions?
- can we reliably extract single-molecule binding energy from whole-cell measurements?
- how do adhesive patches evolve temporally, and are the important time scales related to the organization of the T cell at the interface ?
- how do different ligand-receptor bonds collectively function in T cell-target cell interactions?

During this interdisciplinary thesis with a major experimental component, we will use our micropipette-based single-cell rheometer to perform cell microindentation to (i) quantify viscoelastic properties of T cells, (ii) measure their adhesive properties to antibody-coated microbeads and various cell types. We will collaborate with immunologists (Claire Hivroz group, Institut Curie, Paris) and biologists for cell/molecular expertise and work with theoreticians to analyze mechanical measurements (David Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Univ. de Lorraine, Metz)

The candidate should have a background in experimental physics, bioengineering, or related fields, with experience in or willingness to learn cell culture techniques. The candidate should also have basic programming languages (e.g. Python, MATLAB, or ImageJ/Fiji) for data analysis and image processing, and strong communication skills for effective collaboration with scientists from diverse backgrounds including immunologists and theoreticians.