Jobs in Structural Biology and Related Fields


Electron Microscopy Specialists


Human Technopole, Milan, Italy
Application deadline: 12 Nov 2020


The Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) Facility at Human Technopole (HT) seeks to recruit two Electron Microscopy (EM) Specialists to support facility operations, which include electron tomography (ET), correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) and single-particle EM workflows.

While building a solid expertise in all of the mentioned applications, the activity of each EM Specialist will particularly focus on one of the following application areas: (A) Single-protein application area (i.e. main activities will include sample preparation by negative staining and vitrification, specimen characterization by cryo-EM, single-particle analysis), (B) Ultrastructure application area (i.e. main activities include sample preparation by FIB-milling, plastic embedding, freeze substitution, high-pressure freezing, specimen characterization by CLEM and\or electron tomography). 

The EM Specialists will report directly to Head of the Cryo-EM Facility and will work in close collaboration with research groups of the Structural Biology Research Centre.

She/He will actively participate in managing and maintaining facility operations, supporting HT internal and external academic users.

She/He will work with other HT Core Facilities and IT Services to sustain an optimal research support system.

She/He can participate in and manage research projects whose purpose is to advance the facility and the institute’s scientific environment.

HT Cryo-EM Facility will be equipped by April 2021, with the most advanced EM and CLEM technologies for life science: one 300kV Thermo Scientific Titan Krios G4i TEM (equipped with Falcon 4 and Gatan K3 direct electron detectors, BioQuantum energy filter, Volta phase-plate), one 300kV Thermo Scientific Spectra S/TEM customised for room temperature tomography and STEM applications, one 200kV Thermo Scientific Glacios TEM (equipped with Falcon 4 direct electron detectors, Volta phase-plate), one 120kV Thermo Scientific Talos L120C TEM (equipped to operate in cryogenic conditions with Gatan Elsa), a Thermo Scientific Aquilos 2 DualBeam cryo-FIB system and two fluorescence microscopes (Leica Thunder and Stellaris with white light laser) with cryo-stage for CLEM applications. Ancillary equipment includes plunge freezing devices (two TFS Vitrobots Mark IV and one Leica EM GP2), glow discharger units (Pelcos EasyGlow and Quorum GloQube Plus), plasma cleaners (Gatan Solarus II and Diener Pico), carbon coating system (Leica Ace600), and other sample preparation tools for high-pressure freezing (Leica EM ICE), freeze substitution (Leica AFS2) and ultramicrotomy of resin embedded and vitrified samples (Leica UC7, FC7 and Artos 3D). Computing resources for EM-related analysis will also be available.

Key tasks and responsibilities

The EM Specialists will:

  • Actively participate in resource planning and maintenance of the Cryo-EM Facility equipment;
  • Introduce and supervise facility users to EM sample preparation, technical equipment operations (i.e. from specimen handling to data collection) and provide evaluation support;
  • Interact with the manufacturers and field service engineers of the microscopes and ancillary equipment;
  • Actively participate in facility reviews by external experts;
  • Build effective links and collaborations within HT;
  • Promote networks with other national and international facilities.

Job requirements

  • PhD or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject (e.g. biology, physics, materials or a related field of science) (essential);
  • Previous experience in electron microscopy applications with particular focus on imaging biological samples (essential);
  • Previous hands-on experience in at least of the following applications: single-particle electron microscopy, electron tomography, FIB-SEM, HPF/FS, ultramicrotomy or CLEM (highly desirable);
  • Previous experience in technical support role in an EM Facility open to internal and external users (desirable);
  • Proven expertise in structure and ultrastructure characterization and analysis of biological samples (desirable);
  • Fluency in English – HT is an international research institute (essential);
  • Proven communication, ability to work in a team and problem-solving skills (essential).

Find out more and apply.

Milan, Italy

Electron Microscopy Specialists