Postdoctoral Researcher in Polymer Chemistry and Sustainable Materials for Biosensing
About this role
The Materials in Health Technology and Flexible Devices Group at the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Turku, is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher with a strong background in polymer chemistry, sustainable materials, and advanced materials characterization to join our team. The position is funded through the SmartSens project.
About University of Turku
SmartSens - Advanced Materials for Sustainable Nucleic Acid Biosensing is an international M-ERA.NET project focused on developing advanced materials for sustainable, nucleic acid biosensing, with a particular emphasis on point-of-care detection of different mutations from liquid biopsy samples. The project combines biopolymer-based microfluidics, external stimuli-responsive cellulose materials for DNA purification, copper nanomaterial-based printable conductors and heaters, and electrochemical biosensing concepts for next-generation disposable diagnostic platforms. The consortium includes AIT Austrian Institute of Technology (Austria), Attophotonics Biosciences GmbH (Austria), Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute (Czech Republic), University of Turku (Finland), Sabancı University (TĂŒrkiye), and Ćukasiewicz - ĆIT (Poland). Job Description We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to lead and support UTU's materials-development activities in SmartSens. The selected candidate will work primarily on the design, synthesis, modification, formulation, and characterization of cellulose-based materials for DNA purification in sustainable biosensing platforms. The position will also involve contribution to the development of sustainable conductive nanomaterials for printed heaters and sensing structures. A strong background in polymer chemistry is particularly desirable, as the role involves synthesis and chemical functionalization of cellulose-based materials, tuning of structure-property relationships, and formulation of screen-printable materials for integration into microfluidic sys