Up to 4 year postdoc position in Montpellier - smart microscopy

Image; Montpellier; On-site; EUR 32,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full social security coverage

Competitive public-sector contract

Paid holidays

Healthy work-life balance

Job summary

Image is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the MicroscopIA project in Montpellier, France. This role involves designing and constructing an innovative open-source adaptive light microscope that combines advanced imaging and AI technology.

The position offers an interdisciplinary environment, high autonomy, and collaboration with engineers, AI researchers, and biologists. Full public sector benefits including competitive contract and holiday pay are included, creating an excellent work-life balance in a vibrant Mediterranean setting.

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field is required.
• Extensive experience in optical microscopy and experimental instrumentation.
• Strong theoretical knowledge in physical optics required.

Responsibilities

• Design and assemble an open-source adaptive light microscope.
• Integrate dual-objective and multiscale imaging configurations.
• Implement precise opto-mechanical systems for calibration.

Skills

Optical microscopy

Experimental instrumentation

Theoretical understanding of physical optics

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

PhD in optics, physics, bioengineering, instrumentation, robotics, or related fields

Tools

CAD/mechanical design

Job description

We are recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to join MicroscopIA, an ambitious interdisciplinary
project (Inria PIQ) aiming to build an open hardware microscope integrating 3D+t adaptive
imaging with real-time AI driven feedback.

The instrument will rely on a range of light microscopy methods, from wavefront shaping to high-
frequency photon counting. Our main goal is to ultimately deliver long term, gentle imaging of
3D+t samples, with machine optimized resolution.
The recruited postdoc will play a key role in the design, construction, and integration of the
microscope hardware, in close collaboration with software, AI, and biology teams.

Main Responsibilities

• Design and assemble an open-source adaptive light microscope, based around a light-sheet excitation architecture.
• Integrate dual-objective, multiscale imaging configurations.
• Implement motorized and piezo-controlled opto-mechanical systems for precise alignment and calibration.
• Interface hardware with real-time acquisition and control software.
• Contribute to automated calibration, adaptive acquisition, and hardware–AI feedback loops.
• Participate in open-source hardware documentation and scientific dissemination.

Qualifications

• PhD in optics, physics, bioengineering, instrumentation, robotics, or related fields.
• Strong experience in optical microscopy and experimental instrumentation.
• Good theoretical understanding of physical optics and light–matter interaction principles.
• Keenness to work in an interdisciplinary environment.

Additional assets

• Experience with light-sheet microscopy, open hardware platforms (OpenSPIM, muManager), wavefront shaping and/or adaptive optics, CAD/mechanical design, nD and high throughput data I/O.

What we offer

The recruited postdoctoral researcher will play a central role in the construction of an
innovative microscope developed from the ground up, with a high level of scientific and
technical autonomy. The position offers a highly stimulating interdisciplinary environment, at
the intersection of state‑of‑the‑art hardware development, computer science, artificial
intelligence, and biological imaging, with close interactions between engineers, AI
researchers, and biologists. The project is strongly committed to open science, open hardware,
and reproducibility, as we believe these commitments push us toward better research practices.

The position is based in Montpellier, France, a vibrant scientific hub with a strong bioimaging
and computational research ecosystem. The working environment benefits from the French
public research system, including full social security coverage, a competitive public‑sector
contract, paid holidays, and a healthy work‑life balance. Montpellier also offers an exceptional
Mediterranean living environment, with easy access to the sea, nature, and a rich cultural life.
We feel diversity makes for better and more exciting science, and hope to reflect that in this
project's team. Also, if you like our project and the job but don't tick all the boxes, send us your
resume anyway!