Salary scale: Grade 7: GBP 27,466 - 32,796
Duration: 36 months
Location: The King's Buildings
The University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh has been instrumental in shaping history for over 400 years. An exciting, vibrant, research led academic community we offer opportunities to work with leading international academics whose visions are shaping tomorrow's world. Our 21 Schools, spread across three Colleges, offer over 350 undergraduate and 160 postgraduate courses to more than 20,000 students each year. As a member of staff, you will not only be part of one of the world's leading universities, but also part of one of the top employers in Edinburgh, with over 7,000 people spread across a wide range of academic and supporting roles.
The College of Science and Engineering
The College of Science and Engineering constitutes roughly one third of the University's student and staff numbers. It is a major academic grouping of international standing comprising over 1500 staff in seven Schools located largely on the King's Buildings site to the south of the city centre. The College has around 6000 undergraduate and postgraduate students studying for a wide range of degrees. Further information is available at
The School of Engineering and Electronics
The School of Engineering and Electronics comprises 70 academic staff, 65 research staff, 45 support staff (technical, computing, clerical and administrative) and over 165 postgraduates and 950 undergraduates. Academics across the School are members of Research Institutes, and teach within one or more Subject Disciplines. There are five Research Institutes, some of which are multidisciplinary. These are Materials and Processes, Micro and Nano Systems, Digital Communications, Infrastructure and Environment and Energy Systems.
Computing Facilities
The School of Engineering and Electronics has high bandwidth network connecting a range of computer resources, a cluster of approximately 200 Sun workstations, several PC-based teaching laboratories, and specialist facilities such as Beowulf and SGI clusters. The network also provides high-speed access to the University's central computing facilities (http://www.ucs.ed.ac.uk), to the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk), a national facility based in Edinburgh and to the recently launched GBP 50M National e-Science Centre (http://umbriel.dcs.gla.ac.uk/NeSC/ ).
Institute for Materials and Processes
The Institute for Materials and Processes (IMP) is the second largest of the School's 5 Research Institutes and is lead by Professor Bill Easson. IMP is a multidisciplinary institute with a broad range of research activities including Biomedical Engineering, Micro- Nano- and Chemomechanics, Nanostructured Materials, Advanced Materials Applications, Fluid and Particle Dynamics, and Manufacturing & Process Optimization. IMP holds grants in these areas totalling 3.5M. There are 21 academic staff, 18 postdoctoral researchers and 42 postgraduate research students in the Institute. Further information can be found at: http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/research/IMP/.
Research Fellow Appointment
The project forms part of the activity of Dr Elfick's research group. For further information see http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/research/IMP/Biomedical.html,
Optical microscopy is one of the most widely applied scientific tools, but in biology usually requires a fluorescent agent to give chemical contrast. Raman spectroscopy gives chemical information in optical microscopy, as each molecule has a specific vibrational spectrum. However, for molecular species this Raman signal is extremely weak, so images take many hours to acquire and contrast is poor. CARS is a variant of Raman spectroscopy using two lasers to excite molecules, and is 5 orders of magnitude more efficient - so images are acquired in seconds. A state-of-the-art microscope system has been commissioned and has produced CARS images, and is now ready to apply to biomedical imaging.
You will optimize the imaging conditions for live cells and tissue, and apply the technique to solve important biological problems - leading to high impact publications. The confocal system also incorporates an atomic force microscope, so near-field chemical imaging can be performed at 10 nm resolution. The microscope also acquires fluorescence, FLIM, SHG and DIC images.
More details about the CARS microscope are available on request from Dr Andy Downes (tel: +44 (0)131 650 8554, email : Andy.Downes@ed.ac.uk).
Person specification
The ideal candidate will have the following skills:
- Expertise in advanced optical imaging techniques used in biology such as SHG, FLIM, multi-photon, Raman or CARS imaging
- Knowledge of atomic force microscopy or pulsed laser systems
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Excellent ability to work independently
- PhD in Physical, Engineering or Biological Sciences
Duties and Responsibilities of Post
- Organise your own work and time in order to meet the deadlines and milestones as defined within the EPSRC project.
- Supervise undergraduate and/or postgraduate students who might get involved in the project.
- Keep your line manager and other relevant individuals informed of progress.
- The hours of work are 35 per week. However a degree of flexibility is required and additional hours may occasionally be required.
Supervision
The Principal Investigator is Dr Alistair Elfick.
Informal Enquiries
Informal enquiries about the appointment may be addressed to Dr Alistair Elfick. telephone: +44 (0)131 650 7254, email : Alistair.Elfick@ed.ac.uk
Salary
The post is grade 7 and attracts an annual salary of GBP 27,466 - 32,796. Salary is paid monthly by direct transfer to your bank or building society account, normally on the 28th of the month. Salaries for part-time staff are calculated on the full-time scales, pro rata to the Standard Working Week.
Disclosure Scotland
Under the terms of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003, this post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Check. Employment in this post is conditional on the University receiving a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure check. The successful candidate will not be permitted to commence employment until this has been received. Information provided will be kept confidential and individuals will not be discriminated against unnecessarily due to non relevant offending background.
If you require further information regarding Disclosure, please refer to: www.Disclosurescotland.co.uk.
Application Procedure
We encourage all applicants to apply online. The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system allows you to submit a curriculum vitae.
If you do not have access to a computer, you can call our recruitment line on 0131 650 2511 for an application pack. This will be posted out to you for you to complete and return. To complete the application process, you need to complete the (i) application form, including a statement addressing how your application meets the person specification and names and addresses of two referees (email address and/or fax numbers), (ii) additional personal information form, (iii) Equality and Diversity monitoring form, and (iv) Rehabilitation of Offenders Form, (v) include your CV and publication list. Please return the Application form and all enclosures (except the equal opportunities form) toDr. Alistair Elfick, School of Engineering and Electronics, Kenneth Denbigh Building, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JF, by the closing date of 5 December 2007. Return the equal opportunities form in the separate prepaid envelope. We cannot guarantee to consider late applications.
Please quote reference no: 3008227
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