The Physics Department at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA invites applications for a postdoctoral position in experimental soft matter and biological physics. The candidate will have the opportunity to work on a newly funded, highly interdisciplinary project centered on how bacteria and other microbes survive, grow, and interact in the air. The research is motivated by overwhelming evidence that airborne microbes critically impact everyday life, e.g., rainfall, disease spread, land fertilization, and food production. The candidate will help build and optimize acoustic levitators to grow bacteria on isolated particles in analog atmospheric conditions in the laboratory. A major goal of this research is to develop a new way to culture bacteria in the air and use this cutting-edge technology to understand the physiology, metabolism, ecology, and evolution of airborne microbes. The candidate will also be joining a collaborative research team, with physicists and microbiologists at Emory University, and Earth scientists at the University of Oregon.

Candidates are requested to send their curriculum vitae including a list of publications to Justin Burton at justin.c.burton@emory.edu and arrange to have 3 recommendation letters sent to the same address. Review of the applications will begin immediately, until the position is filled. The starting date for the position is flexible, from late Spring 2023 – early Fall 2023. Emory is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Therefore, women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. For more information about employment at Emory, please visit https://www.hr.emory.edu/careers/.

Justin C. Burton
https://www.jcburtonlab.com/