Postdoctoral Research Associate

Morgridge Institute for Research • Madison, WI

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Morgridge Institute for Research explores uncharted scientific territory to discover tomorrow’s cures. In affiliation with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we support researchers who take a fearless approach to advancing human health in emerging fields such as regenerative biology, metabolism, virology and medical engineering. Through public programming, we work to inspire scientific curiosity in everyday life. This position will develop and apply advanced optical imaging methods for deep-tissue imaging, including coherent nonlinear optical holography. The postdoctoral research associate will design and construct optical instrumentation, develop data-acquisition and computational-reconstruction methods, conduct imaging experiments, and apply these technologies to biomedical research questions.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. in physics, applied physics, optical science, chemistry, physical chemistry, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, or a closely related field.
• Hands-on experience with ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optics, optical microscopy, spectroscopy, or closely related instrumentation.
• Experience designing, aligning, characterizing, and troubleshooting experimental optical systems.
• Proficiency in scientific programming and quantitative data analysis using tools such as Python, MATLAB, C/C++, LabVIEW, or comparable environments.
• Evidence of research productivity appropriate to career stage.
• Strong hands-on laboratory experience with one or more of the following: ultrafast laser systems, nonlinear optics, optical microscopy, holography, or optical spectroscopy.
• Proficiency in advanced data analysis methods, including relevant software and programming languages.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, for preparing manuscripts, presentations, and reports.
• Ability to work collaboratively within interdisciplinary teams and effectively communicate complex scientific concepts.
• Evidence of research productivity appropriate to the applicant’s career stage, such as peer-reviewed publications, preprints, conference presentations, open-source software, instrumentation, datasets, or other significant research contributions.
• Demonstrated ability to identify technical problems, develop and evaluate solutions, manage research priorities, and advance projects with an appropriate level of independence.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with coherent nonlinear optical microscopy or holography.
• Experience with widefield nonlinear imaging, nonlinear holographic imaging, or computational microscopy.
• Experience with Raman or coherent Raman spectroscopy.
• Experience with image reconstruction, inverse problems, phase retrieval, holographic reconstruction, or computational imaging.
• Experience developing instrument-control or data-acquisition software.
• Experience imaging cells, tissues, or other biological specimens.
• Experience mentoring junior researchers.

Responsibilities

• Design, construct, and evaluate advanced optical imaging systems for coherent nonlinear microscopy and deep-tissue imaging.
• Plan and conduct experiments that characterize system performance and demonstrate biomedical imaging applications.
• Design, assemble, align, characterize, troubleshoot, and maintain optical imaging systems incorporating ultrafast lasers, nonlinear optical components, scanning or widefield illumination, detectors, and data-acquisition hardware.
• Develop and maintain software for instrument control, data acquisition, image reconstruction, calibration, visualization, and quantitative analysis.
• Develop calibration procedures, performance benchmarks, quality-control methods, and reproducible experimental protocols for new imaging systems.
• Maintain organized experimental records, source code, instrument documentation, calibration data, and analysis workflows consistent with laboratory data-management practices.
• Analyze imaging and spectroscopy data using statistical, computational, and image-reconstruction methods; quantify system performance; evaluate uncertainty and reproducibility; and interpret results in collaboration with biomedical researchers.
• Contribute to the preparation of research manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
• Collaborate with biologists, biomedical scientists, and other investigators to define imaging requirements, prepare appropriate specimens, design validation experiments, and interpret biological findings.
• Provide technical guidance and research mentorship to graduate students, undergraduate researchers, interns, and other junior laboratory members, as assigned; this responsibility does not necessarily include formal personnel supervision.
• Attend scientific seminars, conferences, and journal clubs to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in the field and contribute to scientific discussions.
• Lead and contribute to the preparation of peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference abstracts, presentations, technical reports, and other scholarly products.
• Present research findings at laboratory meetings and national and international scientific conferences.
• Contribute scientific results, figures, methods, and progress summaries to grant applications and reports to funding agencies.
• Perform other duties consistent with the position and research program, as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree