Technical Officer Supporting Bioassay Optimisation on microfluidic “Lab-on-a-Chip” systems

DCU has a strong track record in attracting both Irish and European Union research funding under Horizon 2020 (and previous Framework Programmes), Marie Curie Actions and Erasmus.  We offer a dynamic and internationally-focused environment in which to advance your career.

An exciting job opportunity in a very innovatively spirited, commercially focussed research centre within Dublin City University – Ireland’s University of Enterprise. The technology-led centre engineers next-generation life-science technologies for the benefit of people and societies. In this role you will have access to competent technical, infrastructural and administrative support and the opportunity to evolve a multi-facetted skill set in an environment where you closely collaborate with leading Irish and international companies and research organisations. You support the commercially driven development of microfluidics-based “Lab-on-a-Chip” systems for decentralised bioanalytical testing towards high technology readiness levels.

The position will be located in the Fraunhofer Project Centre (FPC) for Embedded Bioanalytical Systems planned at Dublin City University (DCU), a collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT) in Germany. This new, commercially driven research initiative conduce application driven research on in-vitro (“point-of-care”) diag­nostics, pharma and agrifood and environmental monitoring.

Technical Officer / Senior Technical Officer

The successful candidate can convincingly demonstrate the willingness and capability to swiftly acquire a good understanding of bioanalytical methods implemented by microfluidic technologies and underlying design and manufacturing technologies for enabling decentralised sample-to-answer testing of bio-samples. You already has experimental work experience in topics relevant to bioanalytical applications relevant to the centre and show a keen interest to contribute to its commercial “fit-for-industry” focus.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Reporting to the centre director or a manager appointed by him on the duties and responsibilities attaching to the post include, but are not restricted to, the following:

·         Experimental characterisation and optimisation of the performance of bioassays implemented on the microfluidic platforms.

·         Operation and maintenance bioanalytical characterisation equipment and infrastructure

·         Support of relevant infrastructure, equipment and administrative tasks

Desired Skills and Experience:

The successful candidate must hold an honours degree (NFQ Level 8) in a relevant discipline and should have at least 1 year’s relevant experience. Under overall guidance of a researcher, you should have a proven track record of working in a team as well as handling aspects independently. Familiarity with the operations of a scientific laboratory environment would be desirable. A self-starting attitude, good interpersonal skills and high technical expertise are a prerequisite.

Contract duration: Fixed term 12 months

Salary range: €31,066 – €35,652