General information
Organisation
The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.
Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.
The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
Reference
SL-DRF-25-0749
Direction
DRF
Thesis topic details
Category
Life Sciences
Thesis topics
Optimizing cryogenic super-resolution microscopy for integrated structural biology
Contract
Thèse
Job description
Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (“nanoscopy”) enables biological imaging at the nanoscale. This technique has already revolutionized cell biology, and today it enters the field of structural biology. One major evolution concerns the development of nanoscopy at cryogenic temperature (“cryo-nanoscopy”). Cryo-nanoscopy offers several key advantages, notably the prospect of an extremely precise correlation with cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) data. However, cryo-nanoscopy has not provided super-resolved images of sufficiently high quality yet. This PhD project will focus on the optimization of cryo-nanoscopy using the Single Molecule Localization Microscopy (SMLM) method with fluorescent proteins (FPs) as markers. Our goal is to significantly improve the quality of achievable cryo-SMLM images by (i) engineering and better understanding the photophysical properties of various FPs at cryogenic temperature, (ii) modifying a cryo-SMLM microscope to collect better data and (iii) developing the nuclear pore complex (NPC) as a metrology tool to quantitatively evaluate cryo-SMLM performance. These developments will foster cryo- correlative (cryo-CLEM) studies linking cryo-nanoscopy and cryo-FIB-SEM-based electron tomography.
University / doctoral school
Chimie et Sciences du Vivant (EDCSV)
Université Grenoble Alpes
Thesis topic location
Site
Grenoble
Requester
Position start date
01/10/2025
Person to be contacted by the applicant
Bourgeois Dominique
dominique.bourgeois@ibs.fr
CNRS
Institut de Biologie Structurale
71 AVENUE DES MARTYRS
CS 10090
38044 GRENOBLE CEDEX 9
04.57.42.86.44
Tutor / Responsible thesis director
Bourgeois Dominique
dominique.bourgeois@ibs.fr
CNRS
Institut de Biologie Structurale
71 AVENUE DES MARTYRS
CS 10090
38044 GRENOBLE CEDEX 9
04.57.42.86.44
En savoir plus
https://www.ibs.fr/fr/recherche/assemblage-dynamique-et-reactivite/groupe-imagerie-integree-de-la-reponse-au-stress/equipe-pixel/membres/dominique-bourgeois
https://www.ibs.fr/fr/recherche/assemblage-dynamique-et-reactivite/groupe-imagerie-integree-de-la-reponse-au-stress/equipe-pixel/