Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Neuromorphic Biomolecular Electronics

Position: The Bioinspired Materials and Transduction Lab (http://ssarles.utk.edu) in the Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) seeks applicants for a postdoctoral position in neuromorphic biomolecular electronics. We are seeking highly motivated and creative applicants to contribute to an Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded, multi-year project on integrating biomimetic material interfaces and neuromorphic devices capable of sensing, activity-dependent learning, and memory. The broad project goal is to create new classes of hybrid ionic-electronic devices capable collocated sensing, signal processing, and computing for use in applications at the edge of biology—where the device interfaces with nearby cells/tissues via electronic, chemical, and ionic signals.

The project will pursue a variety of approaches including biomimetic membrane (e.g., lipid bilayer) formation, photolithography of planar organic electronic devices, electrophysiology of transmembrane ion-channels and electrical characterization of memristive device functionalities, and physics-based modeling of dynamic device behaviors. The project is a collaborative effort with researchers at multiple universities, providing opportunities for collaboration between institutions. UTK also benefits from close proximity to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which offers a wide variety of expertise, nanoscale fabrication, materials characterization, and computational modeling capabilities available through existing collaborations and established User programs.

The position is funded through a multi-year grant that includes salary and benefits. Salary is commensurate with experience.

 

Qualifications: A PhD in Engineering (e.g., Chemical, Biomedical, Electrical, Mechanical), Physics, or a related field is required. The ideal candidate will have an interdisciplinary research background in biological or bio-inspired materials, neuromorphic devices, and organic electronics. Highly motivated candidates with strong analytical and writing abilities are desired. Priority given to those with experience in electrophysiology of voltage activated ion channels, testing and modeling neuromorphic devices (e.g., memristors, artificial neurons, physical neural networks), micro- and/or nano-fabrication of 2D organic electronics, and scientific programming (MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW). Experience in computational neuroscience is also desirable.

 

Applicants should email “ssarles@utk.edu” a single PDF file containing:

1) resume including past research experience and published work

2) one page statement of prior research experience

3) one page statement of future research interests and objectives

4) names of at least two individuals who can provide reference letters