Postdoctoral scholarship (2 years) within vibrational spectroscopy of microbial biofilms at Umeå university

The Department of Chemistry is offering a postdoctoral scholarship within a research project concerning characterization of microbial systems using optical photothermal infrared (OPTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. The scholarship is two years full time with access 15 April, 2026 or by agreement. The deadline for applications is 20 February, 2026.

Departmental specific information

The scholarship is placed within a creative interdisciplinary and international environment at the Department of Chemistry. This is an open and dynamic research environment with excellent access to a wide range of research infrastructures organized in infrastructure platforms, of which the Vibrational Spectroscopy Core Facility (ViSp) is a central infrastructure for this project (https://www.umu.se/en/research/infrastructure/visp/).

The scholarship (30 000 sek/month) is funded by the Carl Trygger Foundation and the project will be conducted in close collaboration with expert researchers in biogeochemistry and spectroscopy (Prof. Madeleine Ramstedt, https://www.umu.se/forskning/grupper/madeleine-ramstedt-lab/) and in vibrational spectroscopy (Dr Andras Gorzsas, Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) group leader, https://www.umu.se/en/staff/andras-gorzsas/).

Project description

The research project concerns method development linked to a cutting-edge OPTIR-Raman instrument and its application in life sciences. This technique is very recently developed and its application in life sciences promises to bring scientific breakthroughs thanks to its superior spatial resolution and the possibility to simultaneously combine two modalities (Raman and infrared spectroscopies). Furthermore, the data obtained provides ideal grounds for new multivariate techniques to be developed as well as it allows efficient data collection on unique and rare samples. The work will use microorganisms as a starting base, as these are biologically relevant, yet complex and challenging to resolve spatially, provide an ideal benchmark for the method’s performance. Microorganisms such as bacteria, furthermore, play important roles in all types of niches in environmental, industrial and medical contexts. Thus, the project is interdisciplinary and positioned at the intersection between analytical chemistry, chemometrics and life sciences. As a postdoc in this project you will learn to use and help to develop cutting-edge methodologies linked to vibrational spectroscopy and multivariate analysis and apply these to research questions within microbiology. To complement the research project, you will have access to a large range of different types of infrastructure available at the various infrastructure platforms at UmU (https://www.umu.se/en/research/research-infrastructure/).

Qualifications

The post-doctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirement must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the decision about scholarship recipient.

Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree before that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.

The doctoral degree must be in chemistry or microbiology or equivalent.

Additional requirements:

· documented experience and skills in advanced experimental research.

· good ability to conduct research both autonomously and together with others.

· You should be creative, be quality conscious, and have good analytical abilities to solve problems

· be able to investigate complex research questions experimentally.

· Very good skills in both spoken and written English are necessary.

Meriting:

· Experience in method development within analytical chemistry, especially concerning vibrational spectroscopy

· experience in microbiological work including cultivation of microbial cells, as well as different types of flow systems.

· Experience in multivariate analysis is meriting.

Application

The application should be written in English or Swedish, and attached documents should be in Word or PDF format. The application should be registered via Umeå University’s e-recruitment system Varbi and submitted by the deadline 20 February, 2026.

A full application should include:

• Cover letter, in which you highlight your research interests and relevant skills, and describe why you are applying for this fellowship (maximum 2 pages)

• Short project proposal where you describe how you suggest the proposed method development project could be performed (maximum 3 pages)

• Your contact information

• Curriculum vitae (CV) with publication list

• Verified copy of doctoral degree certificate or documentation that clarifies when the degree of doctor is expected to be obtained

• Verified copies of other diplomas, list of completed academic courses and grades

• Electronic link to doctoral thesis and maximum 5 relevant articles authored by you

• Other documents of relevance

• Contact information of two persons willing to act as references

Further information

Further details can be provided by Prof Madeleine Ramstedt: madeleine.ramstedt@umu.se or platform manager and senior scientist Dr Andras Gorzsas (Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) group leader) andras.gorzsas@umu.se

Other information

The Department of Chemistry is one of the largest departments within the Faculty of Science and Technology and has about 200 employees, of which about 40 are research students. The department has strong and expanding research in four major areas: Biological Chemistry, Environmental and Biogeochemistry, Organic Chemistry and Technical Chemistry. We are also a strong partner within KBC, the Chemical-Biological Centre at Umeå University. You will also have access to a wide range of state-of-the art research infrastructures organized as open facilities (https://www.umu.se/en/research/research-infrastructure/). An active postdoctoral network exists at Umeå University, bridging postdoctoral fellows and their research projects within all life sciences (https://umeapostdocsociety.se/). All this contributes to a stimulating and active research environment. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier who worked at Umeå University during the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 method.

We look forward to receiving your application!