This is an externally-funded PDRA position supporting the Leverhulme project “Biophysical and morphological coevolution of egg micropyles and sperm in insects”. You will work closely with an international team of researchers across multiple disciplines at the University of Lincoln, UK, in collaboration with the Tulane University, USA.
Insect eggs are incredibly intricate and complex structures which are poorly studied when compared to sperm. To fertilise insect eggs, sperm must pass through a tiny pore called a micropyle, which connected to a channel leading inside the egg. Through our previous work on insect egg and sperm, we have shown that sperm and egg micropyles co-evolve.
The aim of this project is to quantify and explore the form and function of insect egg micropyles across insects. The post you would hold sits at the experimental heart of this: fabricating nano-scale physical analogues of egg surfaces and micropylar pores, and imaging live sperm as they move across and through them. These experiments are complemented by evolutionary analysis and mathematical modelling carried out with the wider team.
This is a laboratory-based post and we are looking above all for a strong experimentalist. You will have a PhD (or close to completion) in experimental biophysics, bioengineering, applied physics or a closely allied discipline, with demonstrable hands-on experience of micro- and nanofabrication and of quantitative live-cell imaging. You will fabricate microfluidic devices and develop live imaging protocols to visualise sperm movement over engineered surfaces and through pores. You will also contribute to computational modelling of sperm movement alongside our collaborator Dr Adnan Morshed (Tulane University, USA) and write and run analysis code in R and/or Python. You will have excellent communication skills with the ability to talk to different audiences, as you will be collaborating with a team of researchers across multiple disciplines both in the UK and overseas.
