PhD position: biophysics of cellular time-keeping during animal development

AMOLF; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 30.000 - 40.000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research institute in the Netherlands is seeking a PhD researcher to explore how cells track time during development, focusing on C. elegans. The role involves advanced microscopy and quantitative analysis in a supportive, diverse environment. Strong skills in programming and English are essential. Full-time position for four years with assistance for foreign PhD students provided.

Benefits

Housing assistance for foreign students

Compensated transport costs

Flexible working atmosphere

Qualifications

• Strong interest in quantitative biophysics questions.
• Experience in programming and handling of complex data is ideal.
• Desire to work in a collaborative and international environment.

Responsibilities

• Use advanced microscopy to analyze timing proteins in C. elegans.
• Develop quantitative analysis approaches in collaboration with physicists.
• Work with a diverse group of PhD students and postdocs.

Skills

Quantitative data analysis

Programming

Collaboration

Verbal and written English skills

Education

Degree in physics or biology

Job description

Organisation/Company AMOLF Research Field Physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Country Netherlands Application Deadline 11 Oct 2025 - 13:01 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 40.0

The job is not funded through the EU Research Framework Programme and is not related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure.

Offer Description

Work Activities
In this project, you will use advanced microscopy and quantitative analysis to solve an important fundamental question: how cells in embryos keep track of time, to execute their functions at exactly the right stage of development. You will address this question in the nematode worm C. elegans. Using a quantitative, physics-inspired approach, you will measure the dynamics of molecules that function as timing regulators in growing and developing animals, to reveal how these molecules encode time with high accuracy. You will work in an enthusiastic and diverse group of PhD students and postdocs with backgrounds in physics and quantitative biology at the AMOLF institute in Amsterdam, and in close collaboration with research groups at the Hubrecht Institute, TU Delft and ENS Paris.

Background
During development from embryo to adult, a multitude of processes unfolds with highly intricate timing, with failure to start and stop these processes at the correct time giving rise to lethality, malformations and disease. Yet, how cells measure time, to execute each process at exactly the right stage and for the correct duration, remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in biology. Information on time is likely encoded in the dynamics of specific timing proteins, whose concentrations rise, fall or oscillate within individual cells during development.

Approach
You will use a unique time-lapse microscopy approach developed in our group to visualize and quantify timing protein dynamics in single C. elegans cells, while these cells undergo the precisely-timed division and differentiation events that are required for normal development. You will make use of new fluorescent reporters developed by our collaborators at the Hubrecht institute, to quantify protein concentration dynamics with unparalleled sensitivity. You will develop quantitative analysis approaches to measure the time information encoded in timing protein dynamics, in collaboration with theoretical physicists at TU Delft.

Our group
We are a social and diverse research group, with a supportive and collaborative atmosphere. We use a quantitative, physics-inspired approach to understand how living organisms reliably build their bodies during development, focusing both on the free-living nematode C. elegans and in-vitro models such as intestinal organoids.

Qualifications
We are looking for outstanding physicists and biologists with strong interest in quantitative biophysics questions, and ideally with experience in programming and handling of complex data. You should like the idea of working in a collaborative, ambitious and international environment. Excellent verbal and written English skills are essential.

Work environment
AMOLF is a part of NWO-I and initiates and performs leading fundamental research on the physics of complex forms of matter, and to create new functional materials, in partnership with academia and industry.

• The working atmosphere at the institute is largely determined by young, enthusiastic, mostly foreign employees. Communication is informal and runs through short lines of communication.
• The position is intended as full-time (40 hours / week, 12 months / year) appointment in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) for the duration of four years
• After successful completion of the PhD research a PhD degree will be granted at a Dutch University.
• Several courses are offered, specially developed for PhD-students.
• AMOLF assists any new foreign PhD-student with housing and visa applications and compensates their transport costs and furnishing expenses.

More information
For further information about the position, please contact Jeroen van Zon: [e-mail]

Application
You can respond to this vacancy online via the button below.

AMOLF is highly committed to an inclusive and diverse work environment: we want to develop talent and creativity by bringing together people from different backgrounds and cultures. We recruit and select on the basis of competencies and talents. We strongly encourage anyone with the right qualifications to apply for the vacancy, regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation or physical ability.