MSCA Postdoc at CoSAXS

MSCA Postdoc at CoSAXS

Lund University, MAX IV, Soft Materials

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world's top universities. The University has around 46 000 students and 8 500 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Are you interested in developing next-generation scattering methods for one of the most important challenges in modern therapeutics?

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join the CoSAXS beamline at MAX IV and the Edler Group, at Lund University to develop high-throughput SAXS/WAXS approaches for understanding the structure and function of solid lipid nanoparticles.

This 36 month position offers the opportunity to work at one of the world's most advanced synchrotron facilities, within an international and interdisciplinary research environment spanning soft matter physics, structural biology, nanomedicine, and advanced data analysis. The fellowship is funded through the prestigious AMBER Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND programme.

The position is hosted jointly by the CoSAXS beamline and the Edler goup at Lund University.

CoSAXS is a state-of-the-art SAXS/WAXS beamline operating on the 3 GeV storage ring at MAX IV, one of the world's leading fourth-generation synchrotron sources. The beamline supports research in soft matter, biological materials, and nanostructured systems through advanced instrumentation and flexible sample environments.

The Edler Group focuses on understanding how hierarchical functional materials form and how this understanding can be used to design new materials with tailored properties. Research in the group centres on self-assembly processes involving nanoparticles, surfactants, polymers, lipid systems, and other soft matter components, with particular emphasis on how nanoscale interactions govern structure and function across multiple length scales. The group combines advanced scattering and diffraction methods with a broad suite of complementary characterisation techniques such as TEM, SEM, AFM, NMR, light scattering, XRD, and neutron scattering approaches.

The project also involves collaboration with researchers at ESS and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source as part of the ESS First Science initiative "The Lifecycle of a Lipid Nanoparticle."

Lipid nanoparticles are rapidly transforming the field of drug delivery, including RNA therapeutics and precision medicine. Despite their importance, many fundamental questions remain about how nanoparticle structure governs encapsulation, stability, transport, and biological performance. This project aims to establish direct links between nanoscale structure and function in lipid nanoparticles using advanced synchrotron SAXS/WAXS methods at MAX IV.

The postdoctoral researcher will play a central role in developing new experimental and analytical capabilities for high-throughput lipid nanoparticle characterisation  work combines synchrotron experiments, advanced scattering analysis, and collaborative method development.

• design, plan, and perform SAXS/WAXS experiments on solid lipid nanoparticles and related soft matter systems
• develop high-throughput workflows for nanoparticle characterisation at CoSAXS
• investigate nanoparticle formation pathways, internal organisation, and structural evolution
• analyse scattering data using advanced computational approaches, including atomistic and coarse-grained modelling
• contribute to the development of data analysis tools for complex nanoparticle systems
• participate in neutron and synchrotron experiments at international large-scale facilities
• support relevant user experiments and contribute to the broader scientific activities of the beamline
• train and support users in scattering workflows and analysis methods
• contribute to supervision of student projects and collaborative research activities
• disseminate research through publications, conference…