Job Description

The Max Planck Society is Germany's premier research organization. The 86 Max Planck Institutes conduct research at highest levels, in the service of the general public, in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

The Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg investigates dynamical phenomena within matter, studying processes on the elementary time- and length-scales of atomic and electronic motions: the femtosecond or attosecond timescale and Ångström length scale.

The Institute is also a partner in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), collaborating with the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) and the University of Hamburg for the development of science based on X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs).

We are looking for a

Postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d)

You will be developing and implementing algorithms to process single particle X-ray diffraction data from XFELs to unravel the structural dynamics of biomolecular systems. The project is funded by the Röntgen Ångström Cluster and is organised in collaboration with teams in the University of Gothenburg, University of Hamburg and Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY). In addition to theoretical/algorithmic work, you will be participating in, and later leading, international experimental collaborations to make measurements at the European XFEL in Hamburg, but also other facilities worldwide.

You must have a university degree in a relevant subject plus a PhD in topics related to physics, chemistry or structural biology. Prior experience in one or more of the following is beneficial:

• Coherent X-ray diffraction or macromolecular crystallography
• XFEL experiments or other experiments with large scale data analysis
• Python programming

We expect candidates to be fluent in English, which is the working language in the group and with collaborators.

We offer an innovative environment, which will give you the opportunity to develop your own ideas embedded in the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL). We offer a position according to the German public pay scale (TVöD). The appointment is for two years with the possibility of an extension.

The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals. Furthermore, the Max Planck Society seeks to increase the number of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.

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