Open positions

Master 1/Master 2/PFE internship for development of functionalization of micro-bubbles in microfluidic chip for an acoustic bio-sensor

Background

This project is part of a research project BIAcoustic that aims to develop a new biological sensor based on bioanalyte capture at the surface of bubbles and acoustic probing.

Figure 1 : Principle of bioanalysis based on ligand decorated droplet/bubble capture.

As we have recently shown (https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5115494) with microdroplet of soja oil the interest of using micro-droplet for bioanalysis are high in terms of sensitivity, capture of rare circulating bioanalytes and ability to provide simple regeneration of the sensor sensitive surface. However, the acoustic probing that we have chosen because of its high sensitivity, is facilitated by using air bubbles instead of oil droplets, and we need to develop a strategy for decorating the surface of the bubbles with ligand to capture the bioanalyte of interest.

Figure 2 : example of monodisperse micro-bubble generation in microflusic chip.

The main part of the project is conducted by a PhD student who is more focused on the acoustic and microfluidics aspects, but the work conducted in this project is key for providing meaningful test structure and verify the performance of such device.

Description of the internship

depending on the internship duration, the two main objective, in order of priority, for the student recruited in this project will be :

1. Develop a strategy for functionalization at the interface between air and water that could carry a biological ligand for bubble interaction test.
2. Produce functionalized bubbles in a microfluic chip. The design of the chip and the production of the micro-bubbles will be made in cooperation with a PhD student working on the BIAcoustic project.

Means

This Master project/ engineer internship will be done at FEMTO-ST Institute in Besançon in the BMD team (BioMicroDevices https://teams.femto-st.fr/BioMicroDevices/en) with visit at IPGG in Paris in the group of J. Fattaccioli (https://fattacciolilab.wordpress.com/).

The candidate will be based in Besançon during the internship, and occasionally when needed he/she will be visiting Paris site to get access to both teams experience and testing equipment in bio-chemistry, microfluidics, microfabrication and characterization for biomedical applications.

The candidate will have access to the IPGG and MIMENTO platform of FEMTO-ST for clean room micro-fabrication, and bio-analytical tool at IPGG.

Exchanges between the candidate and the PhD student working on the BIAcoustic project at FEMTO-ST will be an important part of the project.

Keywords

chemistry, Bio-chemistry, Surface functionalization, Bubbles, Microfluidics, Microfabrication, Bio-interactions.

Minimum Qualifications

Be in a Master degree / last year of engineering school in a relevant field (chemistry, biochemistry, microfluidic systems)

Strong interest in biomedical field and chemistry

Experimentalist with curiosity and adaptability for interdisciplinary projects and environment

Soft Skills

Passion for science and the ability to multi-task and set priorities

Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Contact

Send enquiry, CV and motivation letter to:

Franck Chollet, FEMTO-ST institute, BioMicroDevices team, Besançon, France
franck.chollet@femto-st.fr