PhD Student scholarship position - Recruitment No 60/2026

Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences; Polska; On-site; PLN 51,000 - 61,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

PhD stipend

Job summary

The Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS in Poland offers a PhD student scholarship position within the NSC OPUS 27 project focused on characterizing cones and rods to two-photon stimulation. The work involves exploring two-photon vision, flicker photometry, and related measurements to establish photometric standards.

Responsibilities include rebuilding optical systems, conducting psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments, data analysis, and contributing to scientific publications and

Qualifications

• MSc in physics, optics, biomedical engineering, or optometry
• Experience in using optical systems for eye imaging or testing vision
• Experience with psychophysical methods in vision science
• Expertise in vision sciences, especially two-photon vision research will be appreciated
• Programming skills in LabVIEW and/or MATLAB, and/or Python will be welcome
• Proficiency in English, both spoken and written
• Scientific curiosity and a high level of motivation to work
• Good communication and teamwork skills

Responsibilities

• Participate in re-building the flicker photometry optical system
• Participate in psychophysical and electrophysiological measurements
• Partially develop and make improvements to the experimental system and measurement procedures (hardware and software solutions)
• Analyze the data
• Participate in preparing scientific articles for publication and disseminating project results at workshops and conferences

Education

MSc in physics, optics, biomedical engineering, or optometry

Job description

Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences

Organisation/Company Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences Department Team 3, ICTER International Centre for Translational Eye Research, https://www.icter.pl Research Field Physics » Optics Physics » Biophysics Physics » Applied physics Engineering » Biomedical engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Application Deadline 25 Sep 2026 - 12:00 (Europe/Warsaw) Country Poland Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Other Job Status Extra Information Scholarship position Hours Per Week 32 Offer Starting Date 1 Oct 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number Recruitment 60/2026 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

PhD Student scholarship position available in the Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS within National Science Center (NSC) OPUS 27 project 2024/53/B/ST7/04225 entitled "Characterization of sensitivity of cones and rods to two-photon stimulation".

Two-photon vision is a recently discovered visual mechanism that enables humans to perceive electromagnetic radiation in the 800–1300 nm range. The color perceived under such conditions corresponds approximately to the color associated with half of the wavelength.

Potential applications of this phenomenon include augmented reality displays and medical devices for diagnosing functional visual disorders. However, to accurately assess the brightness of two-photon displays, appropriate photometric quantities for two-photon stimuli must be established. Since perceived brightness is directly related to the stimulation level of retinal photoreceptors, the main goal of this project is to collect fundamental data that will form the basis for photometric standards in two-photon vision.

Two-photon stimulation of photoreceptors will be investigated using specialized optical systems and measurement techniques grounded in visual psychophysics (flicker photometry), optoretinography, and electrophysiology.

The results of this project will broaden our understanding of human visual perception, provide deeper insight into how pulsed laser light interacts with the living eye, and supply the essential data required for future applications of the two-photon vision phenomenon.

Responsibilities:

Ph.D. student will participate in realizing Task 1.2 (flicker photometry) and Task 2 (VEP and ERG measurements) of the project.

She/he will:

• participate in re-building the flicker photometry optical system,
• participate in psychophysical and electrophysiological measurements,
• partially develop and make improvements to the experimental system and measurement procedures (hardware and software solutions),
• analyze the data,
• participate in preparing scientific articles for publication and disseminating project results at workshops and conferences.

Requirements

Research Field Physics » Optics Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Physics » Biophysics Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Physics » Applied physics Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Engineering » Biomedical engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

• MSc in physics, optics, biomedical engineering, or optometry
• Experience in using optical systems for eye imaging or testing vision.
• Experience with psychophysical methods in vision science.
• Expertise in vision sciences, especially two-photon vision research will be appreciated.
• Programming skills in LabVIEW and/or Matlab, and/or Python will be welcome.
• Proficiency in English, both spoken and written.
• Scientific curiosity and a high level of motivation to work.
• Good communication and teamwork skills.

Specific Requirements

At the starting date of the work within the project, the applicant should be a participant in a doctoral programme (pursuant to the Act on Higher Education of 27 July 2005) or PhD students at a doctoral school (pursuant to the Act on Higher Education and Science of 20 July.

Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent

Research Field Physics » OpticsPhysics » BiophysicsPhysics » Applied physicsEngineering » Biomedical engineering Years of Research Experience 1 - 4

Additional Information

We offer PhD Student scholarship position in the Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS with a monthly stipend of 5000 PLN, financed from the NCN OPUS 27 project No. 2024/53/B/ST7/04225 entitled„ Characterization of sensitivity of cones and rods to two-photon stimulation”. The stipend is for 24 months with a possible extension based on the performance. We offer work in a young, dynamically developing team with modern research infrastructure. Funds are allocated to cover participation in international conferences and for short visits in collaborating laboratories. We plan to publish the results of the work in high impact factor journals.The successful candidate will be eligible for all programs at the IPC PAS Young Scientists competition.

Eligibility criteria

NCN scholarships may be awarded to individuals who are not PhD holders and meet any of the following terms:

a) participate in a doctoral programme (Pursuant to the Act on Higher Education of 27 July 2005);

b) are PhD students at a doctoral school (Pursuant to the Act on Higher Education and Science of 20 July 2018)

professional curriculum vitae with a list of scientific achievements (publications, patents, conference presentations, etc.)

The recruitment committee shall evaluate the candidates’ research achievements, their research-related achievements and competencies as regards specific tasks in the research project, expressed as a point score:

• the candidate’s research achievements, including publications in prestigious academic press /journals (50% of the final score)
• research achievements, scholarships, awards and research experience gained in Poland or abroad, research workshops and training courses, participation in research projects (20% of the final score)
• the candidate’s competence to carry out specific tasks in the research project (30% of the final score)

If the top candidate does not sign the contract due to the resignation, we reserve the right to choose the next candidate from the ranking list.

Additional comments

The controller of your personal data is the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences with its registered office in Warsaw, NIP: 5250008755 (the "Institute"). The Institute will process your data for the purpose of carrying out scientific and research activities, providing services and contact with the Institute, on the basis of a contract (in connection with the performance of the contract or in order to take action on your request before the contract is concluded Article 6, paragraph 1, letter b) of GDPR), the legitimate interest of the Institute (Article 6, paragraph 1, letter f) of the GDPR) and legal provisions (Article 6, paragraph 1, letter c) of the GDPR) - depending on the circumstances.

You have the right to: request access to your data, receive a copy of it; rectify (correct) it; delete it; limit its processing; transfer it; lodge a complaint to the supervisory body; withdraw your consent for processing at any time (withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawlessness of the processing carried out prior to its withdrawal) or