The appointed Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) will undertake research on the use of image analysis to assess whether natural materials (e.g., from the early Earth or other planetary bodies) are biological in origin. This work will further the objectives of the Human Frontiers Science Program grant “Unambiguous Biosignatures for Life Detection”. The PDRA will take advice and supervision from Sean McMahon and the external PIs of this project. The aim of the grant is to develop new strategies for discriminating between non-biological and biological materials and patterns, i.e., for recognizing “biosignatures”, by leveraging new “big data” approaches, while also addressing the fundamental question of how, and to what extent, biology differs from non-biology.

Location: University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Application deadline: August 20th

Start date: December 2024

Project duration: 3 years

This is a full-time position based within the UK Center for Astrobiology in the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems in the School of Physics and Astronomy. The key contacts are S. McMahon (University of Edinburgh), J. Cleaves (Howard University) and M. van Zuilen (Naturalis Biodiversity Centre). Applicants with experience in extracting quantitative descriptions of shapes and structures from image data and analysing the results (e.g., with machine learning methods) are encouraged to apply. 

Apply here!