PhD-Position on Ultracold Electrons for Molecular Movies of Protein Dynamics at Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

I am looking for a PhD-student to work with me on a very exciting project: using a unique source of ultrashort pulses of ultracold electrons to make a molecular movie of a membrane protein.

Making such a movie on a lab-scale setup has never been done before and would mean a huge breakthrough. It is also very difficult, but with our unique source we have a good chance of achieving it.
The source [1,2] is based on the photo-ionization of a cloud of atoms that is trapped and laser-cooled to near-absolute zero temperature. Because of this, the created electron pulse has a high enough transverse coherence to obtain high-quality diffraction patterns from 2D protein crystals. The electron pulses are also very short (tens of picoseconds) so that in a pump-probe experiment we can even see very fast protein dynamics.
This project takes place in the Coherence and Quantum Technology group of Prof. Luiten. For more information on the project (and me) see:
https://brancoweissfellowship.org/fellow/huijts.html

During your PhD you will:
• Learn valuable lab skills
• Learn (and enjoy) at international summer schools
• Publish results in peer-review journals
• Present results at (inter)national conferences
• Develop an international network
• Have the freedom to shape your project

I am looking for someone who:
• Has a MSc degree in Physics, Physical Chemistry or a related field
• Has experience with at least one of the following: Lasers; Cold Atoms; RF Acceleration;
Vacuum Systems; Electron Microscopy; Crystallography/Diffraction; Protein Structure
Determination
• Is motivated, practical, takes initiative

Starting date: Apr – Oct 2023
Salary: € 2541-3247 + allowances and benefits
Duration: 4 years
Location: Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

Interested? Contact me at j.v.huijts@tue.nl