多伦多大学招收应用化学博士
About the Project
Background:
Parchment was widely used across Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Horn of Africa as a writing medium from the 2nd century BC until the 17th CE. Parchment is composed mainly of the protein collagen. Despite its longevity, parchment is susceptible to collagen-specific degradation mechanisms, which can occur at any or all levels of the structural hierarchy.
About the project:
Our project connects a multidisciplinary team with expertise in parchment characterization, collagen nanometrology, tissue engineering, statistical modeling, and qualitative research methods to address an unmet cultural heritage and conservation challenge: how can parchment—and the centuries of knowledge written on its surface—be sustainably preserved and restored? Presently, conservators have no accepted methods to repair parchment once it degrades.
Our proposal focuses on re-engineering natural glycation crosslinks in collagen from parchment using methods translated from Tissue Engineering. Therefore, we hypothesize that the damaged parchment collagen matrix can be restored using a novel treatment that combines a collagen fibril filler peptide and rapid glycation chemistry. This will be achieved by a) developing a damage assessment of parchment, b) developing a novel treatment to repair damaged parchments focusing on re-engineering native crosslinks in collagen, c) evaluating the rehabilitation of historical parchment using the novel treatment, and d) exploring the merits of our approach with conservation stakeholders.
About the Research Lab:
The Matrix Functionalization and Phenotyping Lab [MFP-Lab (or Bozec-lab)] explore the relationship between collagen's structural and biomechanical properties at the nanoscale in health and diseases. The MFP-Lab has developed unique expertise worldwide to study the biophysics of connective tissue disorders, collagen engineering, and parchments.
The MFP-Lab has pursued an unprompted inclusion agenda and promoted fairness and equity. To date, the ratio of HQPs is the lab is (gender self-identified) 62% female and 38% male. Over the last 15 years, the MFP-Lab recruited HQPs from over 17 countries, promoting cultural diversity and mutual respect within the team. Currently, the MFP-lab has eight different nationalities among its 13 members.
About you:
We are offering two fully funded Ph.D. scholarships at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, in Toronto, Canada, to work on this exciting project fully funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ph.D. candidate 1 will have an academic background in chemical sciences and/or biophysics.
Ph.D. candidate 2 will have an academic background in Conservation or Cultural Heritage with an interest in information technologies and database management.
All Ph.D. applicants will have a GPa of 3.7 or more (eq. 1st Class BSc Hons.) with prior research experience to be considered.
As English is the primary language of instruction and communication at the University of Toronto, applicants must demonstrate an adequate level of proficiency in English, regardless of their citizenship status or country of origin. These students must follow SGS policies on ELP testing requirements and take one of the required tests for admission to a graduate program.
Applicants from universities outside Canada where English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their applications.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to check the admission and application requirements for the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto.
https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/future-students/admission-application-requirements/
The scholarships are open to international students and Canadian students alike. The scholarships cover the tuition fee and stipends.
If you meet the search criteria and want to join us in Toronto for this exciting project, please send a cover letter and a copy of your CV to l.bozec@utoronto.ca.
转自：“学术橙”微信公众号
如有侵权，请联系本站删除！
