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Post doctor (2 years) within Sensory Mechanobiology
The Department of Medical and Translational Biology and the Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine (WCMM) is offering a postdoctoral scholarship within the project “exploring sensory physiology in non-standard vertebrate models”. The scholarship is full-time for two years with access in spring 2026 or as agreed.

Departmental specific information
We work on sensory biology and mechanotransduction, focusing on non-standard animal models that are rarely used in neuroscience. If this type of science appeals to you and you want to shape the direction, we invite you to join us.

The postdoctoral scholarship is funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) and is affiliated with the Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine (WCMM) at Umeå University.

Project description
Skin is not a passive barrier; it is a sensory interface with the world. Yet many of the structures that allow vertebrates to detect mechanical stimuli remain poorly understood, especially outside mammalian models. Our recent work has provided new insight into mechanosensory corpuscles (Nikolaev et al., Sci Adv 2020; Nikolaev & Ziolkowski et al., Sci Adv 2023; Ziolkowski & Nikolaev et al., Sci Adv 2025). This is just the beginning and there is still much to be learned!

You will lead a project that centers on how tactile end organs assemble, function, and recover after injury. You will be using non-standard animal models for this research. You will have access to a variety of techniques, such as patch-clamp electrophysiology, FIB-SEM volume imaging, tissue clearing (iDISCO), and/or single-cell sequencing.

The postdoctoral researcher will have the opportunity to:
lead projects, design experiments, analyze data, collaborate with the team, present their research at conferences.

Qualifications
Strong background in biological, biophysical, or biochemical techniques.
Experience with ion channels, neuroscience, or developmental biology is a plus;
It helps if the candidates have solid background in electrophysiology.
One first-author paper in a peer-reviewed journal or in bioRxiv.
Most importantly, we value creativity, curiosity, enthusiasm, and persistence.

To qualify as a postdoctoral scholarship holder, the postdoctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirement must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the decision about scholarship recipient.

Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree before that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.

Doctoral degree should be within biology, biophysics, physiology, molecular biology, neuroscience or related field.

Application
The application should be written in English or Swedish, and attached documents should be in Word or PDF format. The application should be registered via Umeå University’s e-recruitment system Varbi and submitted by the deadline 2026-01-01.

The application must contain:
Cover letter describing your research interests, career goals and a reason why you are interested in our laboratory.
CV with List of publications
Contact information of 2-3 referees
Degree certificates from doctoral studies

Further information
The scholarship is fully funded for two years, with the possibility of extension. The successful candidate will also be encouraged to apply for independent research fellowships.

For additional information, contact Assis. Prof. Yury Nikolaev, MTB / WCMM, via yury.nikolaev@ͯ����ƵMore information about the research in Nikolaev’s group: www.nikolaevlab.com

We look forward to receiving your application!