Meet the supervisors or groups leaders

Oldřich Zahradníček

I finished my Ph.D. at the Charles University in Prague in 2011. My original focus was embryology and morphology of animals and developmental biology. Currently I am group leader of the Radiation Biophysics group at the Department of Radiation Dosimetry of the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The aims of our group include research of proton boron capture therapy on cancer cell lines, biodosimetry and newly also the effects of space conditions (cosmic radiation and microgravity) on embryonic development of chicken. Our laboratory combines methods of radiobiology, cellular biology, embryology, mechanistic modelling and dosimetry.

We are looking for postdoctoral researcher who will join our research team focused on radiobiological topics.

The Department of Radiation Dosimetry, of which we are a part, can offer key equipment for radiobiological work including e.g., CO2 incubators, an upright fluorescent microscope Zeiss AXIO Imager, multiplate reader, electrophoresis system, and even 60Co sources for irradiation. We have access to various irradiators such as particle accelerators producing photons or protons, confocal and electron microscopes or qPCR as part of cooperation or services.

The applicant should have a Ph.D. in radiobiology, molecular or cellular biology or nuclear physics. Knowledge or experience of cellular biology, immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization techniques, fluorescent, confocal or electron microscopy and statistical methods of evaluating radiobiological experiments will be a bonus for the applicant.

We are looking for a highly motivated applicant who is capable of independent scientific activity, is proficient in solving methodological problems and will be able to work as a part of the team.

The applicant should have a publication track record in peer-reviewed journals.

Good level of English is expected from the applicant, both in spoken and written form. All eligible nationalities including Czech and Slovak are welcome in our team.

The selected candidate will be based at the laboratory of the Department of Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences at Řež.

Work assignments

The applicant should formulate a proposal for his/her project. The proposal should contain some of the following topics that are solved in our laboratory:

1) Testing of proton boron capture therapy on various cancer cell lines or at different conditions

2) Biodosimetry – evaluation of chromosomal aberrations in cultured lymphocytes and improvement of the generally used methodology of detection of aberrations by immunocytochemical or in situ hybridization methods. Cross-comparison of regularly used methods and implementation of new ones.

3) Effects of microgravity and increased cosmic radiation levels on biological targets (e.g., chick embryonic development, level of cells damage). The experiments will be done in a laboratory under conditions that mimic those in space.

The proposal may contain several topics from the above.

The applicant’s proposal is expected to be innovative in terms of methodology and ideas, and to extend the current scientific capabilities of the group.

Good communication and teamwork skills are required. The applicant should be active in networking to create new collaborations with domestic and foreign laboratories.

The expected outputs of the project are high-level scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.