Postdoc Position in Environmental Toxicology with a Focus on Chemical Imaging

Postdoc Position in Environmental Toxicology with a Focus on Chemical Imaging

SDU - University of Southern Denmark

Odense, Denmark

We invite enthusiastic applicants for a 2½-year Postdoctoral research position in Environmental Toxicology with a focus on chemical imaging. The position is funded by the EU Partnership for Risk Assessment of Chemicals (PARC), Carlsberg Foundation, and SDU. The project will be carried out in the Ecotoxicology group at the Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The starting date for the position is as soon as possible, no later than November 2026.

Project background

Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including those released from micro- and nanoplastics such as substituted phenols (e.g., BPA and BPA alternatives) and PFAS, in the environment is invisible but inevitable. However, there are large gaps in our understanding of the mechanistic events that lead to adverse effects on individual animals and populations. EDCs affect both vertebrates and invertebrates, and the project will investigate their effects in biological samples from multiple species after exposure to known or suspected EDCs using advanced chemical imaging. Special focus will be on the effects of substituted phenols in vertebrates and on chemicals that disrupt molting in arthropods. The research builds on the Danish Sapere Aude TriOOL project and the Carlsberg Research Infrastructure project, which combines comparative embryo models, biochemical imaging, molecular analyses, and toxicological assessment to revolutionize our understanding of micro- and nanoplastics’ environmental and health impacts.

A central research platform will be SDU’s photothermal chemical imaging system, which integrates optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy, simultaneous Raman spectroscopy, and co-located fluorescence imaging. This combination enables label-free chemical identification and high-resolution spatial mapping of plastics and associated chemicals in complex samples as well as mapping of exposure-associated changes in lipid organization, protein secondary structure, or cellular biochemical fingerprints within endocrine responsive tissues. The platform fosters a strong community that includes the Danish Center for Hadal Research, the Danish Center for Research in Marine Plastic Pollution, the Danish Molecular Biomedical Imaging Center, and the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

The project is led by Associate Professor Dr. Elvis Genbo Xu and Associate Professor Dr. Henrik Holbech. The PARC project team includes top-level collaborators such as Prof. Knut Erik Tollefsen (Norway), Prof. Dries Knapen (Belgium), and Prof. Terje Svingen (Denmark).

Qualifications

We seek an enthusiastic, ambitious, and independent candidate with a PhD in spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, microscopy, environmental toxicology, biology, biophysics, materials science, or a related field, and demonstrated expertise in infrared or Raman spectroscopy, chemical imaging, spectral analysis, or image analysis. Experience with O-PTIR, FTIR imaging, Raman mapping, chemometrics, micro- and nanoplastics, biological samples, Python, R, or MATLAB is highly desirable. The candidate should possess strong experimental skills, scientific independence, and excellent English communication skills.

Responsibilities

The postdoctoral researcher will:

• Develop and validate O-PTIR, Raman, and fluorescence imaging methods;
• Analyze micro- and nanoplastics in biological and environmental samples;
• Process spectral and imaging data using chemometrics and multivariate statistics;
• Integrate imaging results with toxicological and molecular endpoints;
• Publish findings and collaborate within the PARC and SDU’s Photothermal Chemical Imaging platform networks.