Marie Curie fellowship in biosensors
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the University of Bath for a three-year research fellowship (Early Stage Researcher position leading to a PhD) in the field of biosensors within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network Parallel Sensing of Prostate Cancer Biomarkers (PROSENSE).
About the project
Start date: September / October 2013.
Funding: Attractive salary of approx. £29,000 per year plus generous mobility allowance.
Project title: Electrochemical localised surface plasmon resonance for detection of novel prostate cancer biomarkers.
Supervisors: Dr Pedro Estrela (Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering), Dr Ian Eggleston and Dr Matthew Lloyd (Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology).
In this project, Localised Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) will be combined with electrochemistry to provide detection of PCa biomarkers. This novel approach will allow rapid, real-time analysis of bio-molecular interactions in micro-volume sample sizes providing precise information on affinity, kinetics or concentration with high sensitivity.
The work will comprise:
- setting up the electrochemical LSPR technique
- immobilise novel probes for biomarkers
- test the technique for the detection of biomarkers (e.g. AMACR, PSA variants)
- adapt the electrode fabrication to include micromagnets for the immobilisation of magnetic NPs
- test the technique with magnetic NPs functionalised with molecularly imprinted polymer receptors.
PROSENSE is a coordinated research training network involving academia, industry and hospitals, bringing together training across disciplines and across sectors, complemented by researcher career development tools.
A full programme of cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral secondments, training and events will enable PROSENSE to promote interaction, knowledge exchange and collaboration in the multidisciplinary field of biosensor design with the aim of developing improved devices for prostate cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatments.
It will increase understanding of clinical relevance of prostate cancer biomarkers and elucidate how the concurrent analysis of biomarkers can inform therapy; improve sensitivity, selectivity, robustness and speed of biosensing technologies for the simultaneous screening of biomarkers; develop lab-on-a-chip devices requiring minute amounts of clinical samples and increase likelihood of viable fit-for-purpose prostate cancer biosensing products.
Requirements
Candidates should have a good honours degree in the fields of biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, physics or a related area.
Eligibility criteria:
- At the time of recruitment the candidate must have less than 4 years research experience since the degree that enables him/her to embark into a PhD
- The candidate must not have already a PhD
- The candidate can be of any nationality but cannot have spent more than 12 months in the last 3 years in the United Kingdom.
How to apply
Interested applicants should consult http://go.bath.ac.uk/prosense-itn for details on how to apply.
Deadline for applications: Sunday 7 April 2013.
