Job offer

European Commission; France; Sur place; EUR 40 000 - 60 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Une opportunité de doctorat en microscopie optique est disponible à l'Ecole Polytechnique pour étudier la distribution de la myéline dans des tissus nerveux. Le candidat travaillera sur les techniques de microscopie avancée et collaborera avec l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière. Ce projet innovant implique l'analyse d'images et le développement de méthodes expérimentales, avec une forte composante d'interaction en équipe.

Qualifications

• Connaissance des techniques de microscopie non linéaire.
• Capacité à travailler avec des échantillons biologiques.
• Compétences en programmation pour l'analyse d'images.

Responsabilités

• Développement de méthodes d'imagerie pour l'analyse de la myéline.
• Interaction quotidienne avec l'équipe de microscopie.
• Analyse des données expérimentales.

Connaissances

Analyse de données

Expérimentation

Collaboration en équipe

Formation

Master en physique ou équivalent

Description du poste

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Laboratoire d'optique et biosciences Research Field Physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Country France Application Deadline 7 Jul 2025 - 23:59 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Oct 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 project will take place in the 'Advanced microscopies' pole of the Lab for Optics and Biosciences at Ecole Polytechnique (LOB). The work will involve daily interactions with a group of 3-4 people, within a microscopy team of ~25 persons and in collaboration with the Paris Brain & Spine Institute. The project involves experimental optics, data analysis, numerical simulations, and biological samples manipulation.

Nonlinear optical microscopy makes it possible to study biological tissues in 3D over depths of a few hundreds of micrometers with subcellular resolution. LOB is pioneering the use of label-free nonlinear optical signals to study the structure and evolution of biological tissues (embryo, skin, brain) with sub-cellular resolution. In particular, fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) provides information on the metabolic state of cells (see image) and polarized third-harmonic generation microscopy (THG) reveals high-index structures such as myelinated axons. The goal of this project is to develop an efficient imaging approach for quantifying cell metabolism and myelin distribution in nervous tissues.
During the first year of the project, the work will focus on two aspects. First, the two contrast modalities will be adapted for imaging immobilized zebrafish larvae. This will require to optimize an existing lab-built microscope equipped with a tunable femtosecond laser source, time-resolved detection for FLIM, and polarization control. High-resolution FLIM-THG images will be recorded in the spinal cord region. Second, the PhD student will develop myelin and metabolic scores based on these images. For the following two years, this work will include a methodological and an applicative part. On the methodological side, the aim is to pursue the development of FLIM-THG imaging. This will include the development of polarization and beam shaping methods for enhancing the sensitivity of THG to myelinated axons, and the acceleration of FLIM imaging with improved detectors. On the application side, these developments will be used (i) to better understand lipid and metabolic disorders using zebrafish embryos as a live model, and (ii) to record large-area maps of myelin distribution in ex vivo healthy and pathological tissue samples. Image analysis methods will be implemented to extract scores at scales ranging from sub-micrometer to centimeter.