Postdoctoral Researcher at the Balder Beamline Full-time

Postdoctoral Researcher at the Balder Beamline

Lund University, repeatedly ranked among the world's top universities, is seeking a motivated postdoctoral researcher to join the Balder beamline team at the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund, Sweden. MAX IV is a world-leading synchrotron facility, providing researchers with cutting-edge tools to advance knowledge across materials science, life science, chemistry and physics. Join us for a unique chance to shape the future of hard X-ray spectroscopy in time-resolved life science research, while supporting world-class synchrotron instrumentation.

The Balder beamline is dedicated to advanced X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) in the medium to hard X-ray energy range (2.4–40 keV). Operational since 2019, Balder serves a diverse user community across material science, catalysis, chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and environmental science. Specialized for in-situ and operando X-ray spectroscopy, the beamline is designed to handle dilute and sensitive samples, often in multimodal setups combined with XRD or XRF. Leveraging the high brilliance of the 3 GeV storage ring and an optimized beamline design, Balder enables time-resolved measurements with sub-second resolution, opening new possibilities for dynamic studies of complex systems.

Part of your research will be carried out in collaboration with the Department of “Inorganic Spectroscopy” at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI-CEC), under the direction of Prof. Serena De-Beer, focused on the development and application of advanced X-ray spectroscopic tools for understanding processes in biological catalysis of several metalloenzymes.

This is a fixed term position for 2 years.

Position Description: As a postdoctoral researcher at Balder, you will split your time equally between supporting the beamline's operational activities and engaging in research and developments to strengthen the time resolved life sciences user community at Balder.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Beamline Support (50%): Assist with day-to-day operations of the Balder beamline, including user support as local contact and maintenance of beamline instruments. Especially the use of the microfluidics platform towards life science users. Occasionally, on-call duties will apply.
• Research and development (50%): In scientific collaboration with the user communities of life sciences, in particular MPI-CEC. Drive and develop microfluidic methods/sample environments toward studies of metalloenzyme systems and resolving catalytic intermediate.

Key Qualifications:

• PhD in a relevant field (chemistry, biology, physics or related disciplines) or equivalent
• Knowledge and practical experience in hard X-ray spectroscopy methodology (sample preparation and data acquisition) and profound skills in XAS & XES data analysis
• Experience of working with microfluidics methodology in combination with spectroscopy.
• Strong track record of publications in X-ray spectroscopy and a strong drive towards research publications
• Proficiency in English (written and spoken), with excellent communication skills
• Ability to work in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment, engaging with a diverse group of scientists and technical staff.

Desirable Skills seen as merit:

• Experience in use and/or operation of hard to tender X-ray synchrotron beamline
• Laboratory experience of work on metalloproteins
• Experience of time resolved data analysis
• Good knowledge of Python language

Eligibility Appointment to the position of postdoc requires that the applicant has a PhD or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position, completed no more than three years before the application deadline. Under special circumstances the PhD can have been completed before the aforementioned three years.