Job FOM Institute AMOLF - PhD position: Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy to elucidate biomolecular function

In the first phase of this project you will build a complex experimental setup for performing two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. In later phases the setup will be used to study the conformational motions of peptides and proteins. As part of the project we will also look into strategies to increase the sensitivity of the experiments, which will allow us, for example, to study protein monolayers. These strategies will involve the use of nanophotonic field-enhancement techniques.

Research
You will use two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy to study the conformational motions that underlie the biological function of specific proteins and protein domains.

Many proteins function as molecular machines meaning that their molecular motions are essential for their working mechanism. We will use nonlinear infrared spectroscopy to study these functional molecular motions. We will focus on a small protein domain, HAMP, which functions as a sort of 'gear box' in many proteins (e.g. chemoreceptors). In a second project we aim to elucidate the molecular origin of the elasticity of elastomeric proteins. We will study the molecular motions present in fibers of these proteins, and investigate how these motions are affected when mechanical stress is applied to the fibers.

You have a MSc degree in Physics or Physical Chemistry.
You enjoy designing, building and working with complex experimental setups.
You have the willingness to acquire the theoretical background needed for the experiments (in particular nonlinear optics and nonlinear spectroscopy).
You have affinity with biophysical and biochemical research questions.

When fulfilling a PhD position at the FOM foundation, you will get the status of junior scientist.
You will have an employee status and can participate in all the employee benefits FOM offers. You will get a contract for 4 years. Your salary will be up to a maximum of 2,610 euro gross per month.The salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.33%.
You are supposed to have a thesis finished at the end of your four year term with FOM.
A training programme is part of the agreement. You and your supervisor will make up a plan for the additional education and supervising that you specifically need. This plan also defines which teaching activities you will be responsible (up to a maximum of 10% of your time). The conditions of employment of the FOM-foundation are laid down in the Collective Labour Agreement for Research Centres (CAO-Onderzoekinstellingen), more exclusive information is available at this website under Personeelsinformatie (in Dutch) or under Personnel (in English).
General information about working at FOM can be found in the English part of this website under Personnel. The 'FOM job interview code' applies to this position.

FOM Institute AMOLF performs leading fundamental research on physics of Biomolecular Systems and Nanophotonics; two areas with key potential for technological innovations. The Institute contributes to knowledge transfer to industry and society and trains talented young researchers. AMOLF is located at Science Park Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and engages approximately 140 scientists and 70 support staff.

The Biomolecular Photonics group will use transient two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy to probe biomolecular dynamics on timescales ranging from femtoseconds to milliseconds. This technique allows one to measure the relative distances and orientations of chemical groups, as well as providing information about the mobilities of the groups. We will, for example, study how the hydrogen bonds that hold together peptide chains in a protein break and reform, and how this allows different amino-acid residues to move with respect to each other.