The University of Montpellier offers three PhD grants to carry on a PhD in Physics in the Laboratory of Charles Coulomb (L2C), starting on October 2018 and for a duration of three years. In the context of this call Dr. Laura Casanellas and Prof. Gladys Massiera, from the Soft Matter team at L2C, offer the possibility of cosupervising a PhD Thesis on the ¨Microfluidic flow of biomimetic tissues¨. Collaborations with the University of Barcelona and the University Paris Diderot are foreseen. The period for online applications is from April 27th to May 28th and an audition will take place on early June 2018 for the selection of candidates. Interested candidates should contact L. Casanellas as soon as possible at:  laura.casanellas-vilageliu@umontpellier.fr

Details of the call can be found at: https://www.adum.fr/as/ed/voirproposition.pl?site=adumfr&matricule_prop=21027

Project description

During embryogenesis, tissues and organs develop through cell differentiation and reorganization. Individual and collective motion of cells leads to a flow tissue, which can be observed during embryo development. Mechanical factors, such as the intercellular adhesion or interactions of cells with their environment are key elements governing this process. Even though a large amount of studies based on animal models have enabled to make great progress on the comprehension of development, they do not offer the possibility to easily decouple the role of different mechanisms. The goal of this project is to develop a simplified model tissue (but which still preserves some of the essential features of physiological tissues) with the aim of identifying the key physical mechanisms regulating the flow of tissues, and in particular of understanding the role of cell-cell adhesion.

PhD objectives

The PhD student will first work on the design of the artificial tissue by the controlled assembly of unilamelar giant vesicles (GUV), which represent a good biomimetic model for the study of the mechanical properties of cells. GUV can be fabricated using a microencapsulation technique based on the continuous passage of droplets through an interface (cDICE) developed recently in our laboratory, which allows us to obtain monodisperse vesicles at high throughput. Next, he/she will focus on the realization of flow experiments of the developed tissues in microfluidic chips of different geometries, which mimic the physiological flows of living tissues. Image velocimetry methods will be used to analyze the spatio-temporal dynamics of the flow, which will enable to validate the theoretical constitutive equation describing the flow behavior of artificial tissues. Eventually, this study will contribute to get a full comprehension of the role of intercellular adhesion on the flow of living tissues, which is a crucial biophysical mechanism in embryogenesis.

PhD Candidate

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate to join our team, willing to carry on experimental research in a multi-disciplinary framework. Candidates should hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Physics, Biophysics or Physical Chemistry. Previous knowledge on microfluidics, microscopy, and/or image analysis will be appreciated.  An intermediate English level is required.