Computational Engineer/Scientist for MicroMAX (2 years)

Lunds universitet, MAX IV, MX group

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top 100 universities. The University has 40 000 students and more than 8 000 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition. 

MAX IV is a Swedish national large-scale research laboratory hosted by Lund University. It provides scientists from Sweden as well as internationally, with state-of-the-art instrumentation for research in areas such as engineering, physics, structural biology, chemistry and nanotechnology. Fully developed it will receive more than 2 000 scientists annually, conducting ground-breaking experiments in materials and life sciences using the brilliant X-ray light.

MAX IV Laboratory has received funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (http:// novonordiskfonden.dk/en) for a new beamline called MicroMAX (https://www.maxiv.lu.se/micromax/), a micro-focus macromolecular crystallography beamline. MicroMAX will exploit new sample delivery methods and the unique performance of the MAX IV 3 GeV storage ring to provide new possibilities in collecting high quality structural data from microcrystals.  

MicroMAX will build on the rapid development of serial crystallography that is presently attracting great interest within the structural biology community. MicroMAX will not only increase the probability of obtaining structural data from challenging projects where only microcrystals are available but also enable data collection at room temperature and time resolved experiments with a time resolution down to the microsecond range. The performance of the beamline in combination with new detectors will produce very large amounts of data requiring efficient and fast data analysis for rapid feedback to the users. 

The Macromolecular Crystallography (MX) group is responsible for the BioMAX beamline that is in operation and the design, construction and future operation of the MicroMAX beamline. We have started developing activities in the field of serial crystallography and we have already performed experiments at BioMAX. The development of the data analysis will build on what is available at BioMAX today. 

We are now looking for a computational scientist to develop the data analysis and processing workflows for MicroMAX. This is a 2-year position. 

Work duties and areas of responsibility
Your tasks will include design, programming and testing different data analysis and processing pipelines for the MicroMAX beamline, in particular for serial crystallography techniques. These pipelines need to be interfaced with the beamline control software and laboratory information management system and will be tested and deployed first at the BioMAX beamline during the construction of MicroMAX. Support during experiments will also be an important aspect of the work.

You will develop the data analysis framework for MicroMAX in close collaboration with colleagues in the MX group and in the control and IT group. We collaborate with groups at other facilities and user groups and interaction with these will also be important.

New detectors and experimental techniques will produce large amounts of data at the same time as the data analysis will need to become faster. Your duties will also include interacting with the developments in experiment control, data acquisition and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Requirements

• Either (1) a computing engineering degree or (2) documented computer skills and experience in macromolecular crystallography
• Experience with Python and / or C/C++
• Experience in developing scientific software
• Working knowledge of Linux systems and tools
• Ability to cooperate and work in a team, but also an ability to work independently
• Good communication skills, and an excellent command of English, both oral and written
• Be performance oriented, structured and creative 

Desirable

• Documented contribution to developing a relevant scientific software project in the last 2 years
• PhD in a relevant area (structural biology, bioinformatics, computer science or physical science preferred)
• Knowledge of crystallography
• Experience of analysis of serial crystallography data
• Experience of handling large amounts of data, such as resulting from scientific experiments
• Experience with high-performance computing
• Experience in developing scientific software
• Knowledge of web development and database management
• Knowledge of FPGA or GPU programming

Other

• Attending meeting including international meetings might be required because of the collaborations with other facilities and institutes
• Support outside office hours 

On call services may apply in the future. 

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset. We kindly decline all sales and marketing contacts.