Opportunities in the Optical Manipulation Group

Post Doctoral Positions

 Upto 5 post doctoral positions available: 

Research Fellows x 5 – CD1152

Schools of Physics and Astronomy, Medicine & Biology, £30,122 - £35,938 per annum, Start: As soon as possible, Fixed-Term for up to 2 years

Recent grant awards are supporting new research building on a range of internationally recognised work in the areas of photonics and biophotonics at St Andrews. A number of new fixed term positions are available, each of up to two years duration.  The topic areas in which we aim to recruit are: 

1. The use of shaped or ‘structured’ light for imaging, sensing and advanced microscopy in  both free space systems and in microfluidic environments. The shaping will be performed  using dynamic diffractive optical elements. In this topic area, two posts are presently  available. 

2.  Organic light-emitting diodes and lasers. This post involves making such light sources,  measuring their spatial coherence, and using them to make “structured” light.  It will then  explore their use both for treatment of diseases such as skin cancer, and in lab-on-a-chip  sensing devices. 

3.  The use and exploitation of nanoparticles is key in many areas of biophotonics. For this post  you will be involved in the topics of optical trapping and sorting of nanometric sized  particles  including quantum dots and biological macromolecules (eg proteins). 

4.  The University of St Andrews has made major advances in the field of photoporation: using  focused light beams to create transient holes in the cell membrane to allow the delivery of  therapeutic drugs.  The post is aimed at advancing this methodology particularly towards its  application to ‘difficult to transfect’ cell types and performing advances studies on a  dedicated microscope system.  

Informal enquiries (NOT full applications) to: Professor Kishan Dholakia, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel: 01334 463184 (all posts) or Professor Frank Gunn-Moore,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel: 01334 463525 (posts 3 and 4) or Professor Ifor Samuel,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel: 01334 463114 (post 2). Please clearly specify in your application which topic(s) you are applying for.

Ref No: CD1152

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PhD Positions

We are always interested to hear from you if you are interested in doing a PhD in our group.

Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sources of PhD Funding at the University of St Andrews

Department funding - this type of funding comes from what is called a Doctoral Training Account and is paid to the Physics department by out main funding body the EPSRC. We typically get half a dozen places per year, but the funding on these places is strictly available to UK citizens. These positions are also pretty competitive due to the calibre of the candidates and the fact that there are a large number of staff members who want students.

Grant funding - when staff members apply for grants from funding bodies they can, if they wish, ask for money for PhD students. This funding is related directly to a specific staff member and they have more freedom to choose a candidate. Current funding council rules mean that these studentships can only pay for UK or European Union (EU) citizens.

Prospective students will note that funding of citizens from outside the UK and the EU is difficult under these schemes. This is primarily because the funding that these schemes provides is not enough to pay for the fees of students from outside the EU. UK and EU students rates are ~£3k per year while other, 'overseas' students must pay ~£10k per year.

Commonwealth citizens (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa etc) can apply through the Commonwealth Scholarship scheme, for example.

Students who might be interested in apply for the above schemes can contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more info.

What other funding schemes are available?

The UK Council for International Student Affairs offers advice on funding and living in Britain.

Undergraduate Placement

We are also always interested to hear from potential undergraduate summer and project students. If you think you would like to work with the group then please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more.

Opportunities Elsewhere

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