A hosting offer for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 call is available at Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Onbaşlı’s lab and KUISCID at Koç University, Istanbul. The research is going to be related to the PI’s earlier viral biosensor kit publications and their preclinical validation at KUISCID. The PI holds an ERC Starting Grant SKYNOLIMIT (no. 948063) and an ERC Proof of Concept project SuperPHOTON (no. 101100718) and offers advanced expertise in materials growth, fabrication, and characterization.

The research aims to use different biosensing techniques (fluorescent or label-free) to develop highly sensitive, specific, and reconfigurable test platforms for different viral and bacterial infections. In addition, the research involves detection of molecular markers from bodily fluids obtained from noninvasive procedures (saliva, nasal swab, urine, or stool) to identify the presence and concentration of molecular markers for cardiovascular, diabetic, metabolic, or neurodegenerative diseases. Koç University Hospital, Koç University Clinical Trials Unit and KUISCID offer the necessary access to triage for sample collection, lab infrastructure (RT-PCR, cell culture hoods, BSL2, BSL3 labs for viral or bacterial experiments), and access to physicians for translational research.

Successful applicants must have a recent Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science, characterization or in a related field along with a strong publication record. A strong motivation and curiosity to do high-quality (pre)clinical research is essential. Skills in RT-PCR, wet lab tools, chemical synthesis and molecular conjugation, molecular biology building blocks (aptamers, oligonucleotides etc.), materials characterization (Raman/photoluminescence/UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy), and statistical analysis and machine learning (pre/post-processing of data, dimension reduction, neural network training/validation/testing), readout optics and electronics are expected. The successful candidate must have strong cross-disciplinary communication and organizational skills.

Applicants should send their CV to Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Onbaşlı, monbasli@ku.edu.tr and prepare and deliver a remote 30-minute presentation based on their Ph.D. research.