Career Opportunities

We offer:

• a creative, world-class interdisciplinary research environment for fundamental and applied nanoscience
• state-of-the-art infrastructure for the fabrication and characterization of nanostructures
• a strong international nanoscience network
• a highly regarded scientific education
• internships in nanotechnology industry
• intellectual property training
• family-friendly living conditions and a high degree of social security
• a competitive salary and full employment contracts for doctoral students and postdocs

Current vacancies in NanoLund research groups

All positions are regularly posted in the Lund University recruitment system. 

Selected vacancy announcements within NanoLund are listed below. To apply for a position, click the Login and Apply button in the vacancy announcement, and you will be guided to the recruitment system.

Postdoctoral position in Microwave Quantum Optics and Devices

The position is placed at the Division of Solid-State Physics at the Department of Physics, a division with around 100 employees where extensive research is carried out centered on various aspects of nanophysics, ranging from materials science to bio- and quantum physics to various applications. The division is a central part of NanoLund, Lund University's large interdisciplinary research center on nanoscience and nanotechnology. The research center includes also Lund Nano Lab, a central and shared cleanroom facility for the production of materials and components at the nanoscale. 

A significant part of the research at our division is in the area of semiconductor quantum devices, where we develop new methods and functionalities for quantum technology. The department hosts the ERC Consolidator Grant QPHOTON (PI Ville Maisi), which aims at building microwave photocounters as new measurement sensors for quantum technology. Ville Maisi’s research group has long-term experience and expertise in microwave photon – semiconductor nanostructure devices including coherent coupling of electrons and photons and single-electron charge detection. QPHOTON’s aim is to design, fabricate and demonstrate photodetectors that count microwave photons at high quantum efficiency and low backaction. This will enable to measure the statistical properties of the microwave photons. 

he role of this postdoc position is to gain understanding of the quantum mechanical measurement processes and backaction effects that take place in our photodetectors. 

The main duties involved in a post-doctoral position is to conduct research. Teaching may also be included, but up to no more than 20% of working hours. The position includes the opportunity for three weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning. The purpose of the position is to develop the independence as a researcher and to create the opportunity of further development.

Project´s research tasks are to: 

• Perform experiments in microwave resonator – semiconductor quantum dot circuits that probe simultaneously the photonic and electronic response.
• Develop understanding of the quantum measurement processes by varying how strongly the photonic and electronic sides are measured.

The work duties may also include cleanroom processing to make the devices, collaboration and supervision of PhD students as well as collaboration with theory groups to establish theoretical understanding of the results.

Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position. Priority will be given to candidates who have graduated no more than three years ago before the last day for application. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier.

This is a career development position primarily focused on research. The position is intended as an initial step in a career, and the assessment of the applicants will primarily be based on their research qualifications and potential as researchers. Particular emphasis will be placed on research skills within the subject.

Group leader: Ville Maisi

Read complete vacancy and apply online before 13 January 2026

Post-doctoral fellow in physical chemistry: liquid-liquid phase separation in complex environments

The subject includes experimental and theoretical studies of biological matter. We address molecular questions in biological systems, and study biological and designed proteins using a combination of classical and advanced techniques including optical and NMR spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, light and X-ray scattering, cryo-electron and fluorescence microscopy. The experimental and theoretical methods used often have their origins in physics. Significant work is devoted to protein self-assembly and co-assembly and interactions with other biomolecules.

The research project takes place within the COMMONS Center of Excellence (www.physchem.lu.se/commons). The overarching aim of COMMONS is to provide a multifaceted scientific environment focusing on unifying physicochemical processes of key importance for the interactions between biological membranes and biomacromolecules. The COMMONS center brings together methodological and theoretical expertise from Lund University, Chalmers and Copenhagen University.

The project is focused on biomolecular condensates in complex systems, including cells, with an aim to develop methods and methodologies to investigate liquid-liquid phase separation in complex environments. A key challenge is to establish techniques capable of probing very small condensates, determining whether they are liquid or solid, and assessing whether they and undergo phase transitions over time. The methods should enable to quantify diffusion rates inside condensates, discriminate between associative from segregative phase separation, and identify the molecular factors governing these phenomena. A central open question concerns why condensates in cells appear to halt and not grow (Ostwald ripening and coalescence should be expected for liquid phases). What molecular factors limit the size of such condensates? The methods may include advanced optical and cryo-electron microscopy, scattering and diffusion-based methods.

The postdoctoral researchers will be able to develop their scientific skills and knowledge within the interdisciplinary center, which will also impact on outcomes from the research projects. This post-doctoral position is also part of the EU cofund research project AMBER, Advanced Multiscale Biological imaging using European Research infrastructures, will address scientific and sectoral gaps in biological imaging ranging from molecular, through cellular, to tissue, organ and organism levels of organisation, and is coordinated by LINXS Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science. AMBER is funded by the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND scheme. Around 15 postdocs will be recruited in the fifth call 2026, with each fellowship lasting 36 months.

Your work may include clinical and biomedical projects. It may also include technique development work aimed at combining imaging techniques and data analysis to provide a more integrated picture of life processes in the context of health and disease. To be a postdoc fellow at the AMBER programme you will get unprecedented medical, biological, and methodological capabilities, with a profound potential impact for Europe’s next generation of research and researchers. When you have completed the AMBER programme you will be extraordinarily well equipped to further your career in academia, at infrastructures, in the health and MedTech sectors, and beyond.

The main duties involved in a post-doctoral position is to conduct research. Teaching may also be included, but up to no more than 20% of working hours. 

Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position. For furthewr requirements, see the full vacancy linked below. 

Group leaders: Emma Sparr and Sara Linse

Read complete vacancy and apply online before 2 March 2026

Doctoral student in biomedical engineering with a focus on acoustofluidics

Are you driven by a desire to explore fundamental physics and are you interested in its future applications in medical technology? Are you keen to build up your own experiments in collaboration with talented colleagues? Are you interested in a career as a researcher in academia or are you preparing for a future job in a research and development department in a company?

Our group is well-renowned in the field of acoustofluidics through our fundamental experimental studies of ultrasound resonances to generate acoustically induced flow phenomena as well as to exert forces on microscopic objects in microchannels. We are also developing applications related to medical engineering. Examples of such applications include sorting circulating tumor cells from the blood of cancer patients or capturing extracellular vesicles from blood samples. The group has currently 9 members involved in collaborative research projects within and outside the group and is headed by Professor Per Augustsson.

As a doctoral student, you are both admitted as a student and employed at Lund University. Throughout your studies, you will be guided by supervisors. Doctoral studies end with a thesis and a doctoral degree.

The doctoral project focuses on studying a range of fundamental transport phenomena related to acoustic streaming in fluids and radiation forces on cells and biological nanoparticles. We have identified a need to recruit a PhD-student that will contribute to our group by developing theoretical and practical expertise in acoustofluidics. 

You will primarily devote yourself to your doctoral programme, which includes participation in research projects as well as third cycle courses, seminars and conferences. Your research work will primarily consist of experimental and theoretical studies of basic physical phenomena related to acoustic streaming effects and cell mechanophenotyping in acoustofluidic systems. You will be supervised by Professor Per Augustsson and a co-supervisor from the research environment. 

The specific work duties include:

• Fundamental research in experimental fluid mechanics and material properties of blood and cancer cells
• Modeling and building acoustofluidic systems
• Integration of acoustofluidics with optical systems to image cells and fluid flows in close collaboration with experts in optics.
• Administration related to the work duties.
• The duties may also include participation in teaching and other departmental work (however, a maximum of 20% of working hours).

To be eligible for admission and employment as a doctoral student, you must fulfil the requirements described in the complete vacancy linked below.

Group leader: Per Augustsson

Read complete vacancy and apply online before 14 January 2026

Doctoral student in Physics within THz-electron spin resonance-ellipsometry

The PhD position is placed at the Division of Solid State Physics at the Department of Physics. A significant part of the research at the division is in characterization of semiconductor materials. The department hosts the research group of Prof Vanya Darakchieva. Together with its co-operating partners, the group has developed in recent years THz ellipsometry and its applications in characterization of semiconductor materials and devices. These lay the foundation for the next generation of high-frequency and high-power electronics being developed together with leading Swedish industrial partners.

The PhD advisor is Prof Vanya Darakchieva. She has extensive experience in the development of new semiconductor materials for high frequency and power electronics. The research also focuses on developing spectroscopic techniques to study electronic and transport properties of materials from bulk to nanoscale.

A specific direction to be further developed is to investigate electron spin resonances with the THz ellipsometer, so-called high field EPR. It involves the development of equipment and strategies based on polarisation optical methods and aims at defect characterisation in semiconductors. The development is mainly basic research but has strong links to future quantum technology concepts.

You will primarily devote yourself to your doctoral programme, which includes participation in research projects as well as third cycle courses, seminars and conferences. 

The aim of the PhD project is to conduct research in THz material analysis to expand the scope of THz ellipsometry and optical Hall effect to electron spin resonance ellipsometry. The method will mainly be applied in materials science, in particular for the investigation of crystal phases and defects in semiconductors. In addition to nitride material systems, a focus area will be Ga2O3 and other ultrawide bandgap semiconductors. The duties also include participation in teaching and other departmental work (however, a maximum of 20% of working hours).

To be eligible for admission and employment as a doctoral student, you must fulfil the requirements described in the complete vacncy text. 

Group leader: Vanya Darakchieva

Read complete vacancy and apply online before 15 January 2026

Doctoral student in Physics with a focus on the development of novel X-ray imaging methods with AI+Physics

The Division of Synchrotron Radiation Researchis a part of the Department of Physics and has more than 50 employees. The focus of the research is on experimental studies of electronic, structural, and chemical properties of materials. At the Division we use and develop a wide range of large facility- and lab-based techniques. We are additionally engaged in the development of the MAX IV Laboratory in the fields of beamlines, experimental stations, techniques for Synchrotron radiation and the accelerator systems. MAX IV is the first operational diffraction-limited storage ring in the world, offering new opportunities to develop novel X-ray imaging techniques that were not possible before.

This project aims to develop and demonstrate a novel X-ray imaging technique based on scattering to explore a new spatiotemporal frontier for hierarchical characterization. This technique will be commissioned at the ForMAX beamline at MAX IV by studying hierarchical self-assembly processes that have the potential to lead to the next generation of optimal bioinspired materials.

In particular, the candidate will work on: i) commissioning and establishing this novel technique, granting the opportunity to pioneer novel research opportunities enabled by one of the brightest sources in the world, ii) developing AI+Physics end-to-end reconstruction algorithms that will enable a new regime of spatiotemporal hierarchical characterization. The project is mainly computational with an experimental component. 

The main duties of doctoral students are to devote themselves to their research studies which includes participating in research projects and third cycle courses. The work duties can also include teaching and other departmental duties (no more than 20%).

A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if he or she:

• has been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

A person meets the specific admission requirements for third-cycle studies in Physics if he or she has:

• passed an independent project (e.g.degree project) of at least 30 credits in a relevant subject

Equivalent knowledge acquired through corresponding programmes will be assessed individually. Finally, the student must be judged to have the potential to complete the programme.

Supervisor: Pablo Villanueva-Perez

Read complete vacancy and apply online before 15 January 2026

Would you like to have your vacancy posted here? Please send an e-mail to webmaster [at] nano [dot] lu [dot] se (webmaster[at]nano[dot]lu[dot]se).