Head of Microscopy Service, EMBL Rome, Italy

Job Description

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is one of the highest ranked scientific research organisations worldwide. The Headquarters Laboratory is located in Heidelberg (Germany), with additional sites in Barcelona (Spain), Grenoble (France), Hamburg (Germany), Hinxton near Cambridge (UK), and Rome (Italy).

EMBL is looking for a Microscopy Service Manager for the Epigenetics and Neurobiology Unit near Rome, Italy.

The postholder will report to the Head of EMBL Rome and will be responsible for the maintenance and running of the facility’s microscopes and will work closely with members of the Unit’s research groups to support imaging projects and develop and apply novel microscopy methods. Currently the core facility is composed of a MacroFluo Leica Z16 Apo, a Stereomicroscope Leica MZ12, a Widefield Leica DMR, a Widefield Leica DMI6000 B, a Microdissector Leica LMD7000, a Laser scanning confocal microscope system – Leica TCS SP5 Resonant, a Perkin Elmer Spinning Disk Confocal “ULTRA VIEW VoX”, a Zeiss Lightsheet Z.1, a JEOL 1010 Transmission Electron Microscope.

Other responsibilities will include:

• Providing training and assistance in the operation of microscopes, experimental design, image acquisition and analysis, and the presentation and management of data
• Coordinating and overseeing imaging projects between researchers at the Unit and EMBL imaging facilities in Heidelberg and Barcelona – including visits to other sites, if needed
• Overseeing the purchase of supplies for the microscopy stock center
• Providing advice concerning the purchase of additional / replacement microscopes

Qualifications and Experience

Candidate will be expected to have some of the following:

• MSc or PhD in Life or Physical Science
• Extensive experience in operating and maintaining wide field and confocal microscopes, operating systems and software acquisition packages
• Proven practical and theoretical expertise with light microscopy on a variety of biological samples, including cells in monolayer, 3D culture, tissues, functional imaging (e.g. calcium sensor), and in vivo live applications
• Knowledge of post-acquisition image processing and use of relevant software packages (Metamorph, Imaris, Velocity, Zen, etc.)
• Experience in protocol design, sample preparation, and image analysis for electron microscopy projects (TEM, serial block-face SEM, CLEM, in collaboration with EMBL EM Facility – Heidelberg)
• Excellent organizational and communication skills
• Excellent command of written and spoken English. Previous experience in managing a microscopy facility or similar service will be considered an asset

For additional information please check the job offer.

Closing date: 02 September 2018