Dear Colleagues, We are seeking a motivated young scientist or engineer with excellent skills in programming and computing to join the PROXIMA 2 team at Synchrotron SOLEIL. Please forward the announcement below to any interested parties. Kind regards, Bill Post-doctoral Position - Scientific Programmer - PROXIMA 2 The position is available immediately. Deadline for submission of applications is the 15th March 2011
SOLEIL is an optimized, 3rd generation, 2.75 GeV synchrotron light source located 25 km south of Paris, France. A total of 26 beamlines, covering the whole energy range from IR to hard X-rays, provides an outstanding panel of experimental tools based on synchrotron radiation for physics, chemistry, biology and environmental sciences. The first 20 beamlines, several of which are using new concepts of undulator sources, are open to users. A permanent staff of 358 people operates the installation. The PROXIMA 2A beamline is dedicated to micro-crystallography and specifically designed to handle the fragile micro-crystals of biological macromolecules. The source is an in-vacuum U24 undulator installed on a canted section, and the X-rays will focus down to 5 µm × 5 µm over an energy range of 5 - 15 keV. The beamline will be equipped with a micro-diffractometer, focusing X-ray mirrors, an area detector and robotic sample changer. The experimental station will also be capable of measuring anomalous differences for MAD or SAD phasing experiments in the above energy range. The beamline is currently in the construction phase, and it will be opened to users in 2012. 1. Mission We are seeking a motivated young scientist or engineer with excellent skills in programming and computing, a strong interest in macromolecular crystallography and a background in its methodological basis. As a member of the PROXIMA 2A beamline team, your principle mission will be to develop and integrate software at the "client-level" to communicate with the device servers of the hardware level (TANGO). The software will include routines for commissioning, maintaining and operating the beamline (such as alignment procedures, data collections, and beamline calibrations). These software routines will be linked to graphical user interfaces (e.g. MXCuBE & GlobalScreen). You will also be involved in research projects developing new functionalities for the instrumentation on the beamline, as well as novel analytical and computational techniques in micro-crystallography. For further information, contact william.shep...@synchrotron-soleil.fr <mailto:william.shep...@synchrotron-soleil.fr> . 2. Qualifications & Experience Candidates should preferably hold a Ph.D. in macromolecular crystallography or the equivalent of a Masters degree in computing with at least 3 years of experience in a relevant science or engineering field. Plenty of experience in computing and excellent skills in programming is a pre-requisite. Candidates should have expertise in the programming of scripting languages, preferably in Python and Unix/Linux shells (e.g. bash), as well as other languages such as C++, Qt or Visual Basic. Experience in macromolecular X-ray crystallography methodology or synchrotron beamline instrumentation will be much appreciated. 3. General conditions The offer concerns a Post-doctoral contract for a one year-period renewable or a fixed term contract contract (CDD, Contrat de Durée Détérminé). The place of work will be at Synchrotron SOLEIL, which is located in the Paris suburbs (Saint-Aubin). Applications should include a motivation letter and Curriculum Vitae with the addresses of two referees. Please submit applications online at http://candidature.synchrotron-soleil.fr/VotreCandidature/ <http://candidature.synchrotron-soleil.fr/VotreCandidature/> mentioning the reference "Post-Doc-PROXIMA2".