Postdoctoral Researcher in Engineered Living Materials and Programmable Hydrogels

Engineer living cells that sense their environment and actively modify the material around them

Our goal: To create a programmable two-way interface between living cells and synthetic hydrogels: the material supports and regulates the cells, while engineered cells modify the material’s structure, mechanics, or biological function over time.

Your colleagues: You will join the BioMatt group of Dr. Matthew Baker (https://merlninstitute.com/discover-merln/departments-and-groups/research-groups/biomatt-polymeric-biomaterials). The BioMatt group is part of MERLN’s Department of Instructive Biomaterials Engineering (IBE), which develops biomaterials that actively interact with and guide biological systems. Within this environment, BioMatt combines molecular and polymer design with cell biology and tissue engineering to create dynamic materials for biomedical applications.

Working at MERLN means joining an international network of researchers from approximately 25 nationalities and a collaborative community spanning biomaterials, chemistry, mechanobiology, tissue engineering, biofabrication, microbiology, and cell biology. You will work in newly renovated laboratories with access to state-of-the-art facilities and close scientific support from colleagues across the SupraValent team.

What you do

This postdoctoral position leads the engineered-cell and living-materials work package within SupraValent. You will have substantial freedom to refine the biological strategy while working with existing dynamic hydrogel platforms and reactive chemistries developed by the team. You will:

• Design, construct, and validate engineered microbial cells that produce, secrete, display, or activate molecules capable of modifying a surrounding hydrogel.
• Develop inducible or environmentally responsive cellular programs that provide temporal control over material reinforcement, remodeling, degradation, or biofunctionalization.
• Establish reproducible encapsulation and culture conditions that preserve cellular activity while maintaining useful hydrogel properties and appropriate containment.
• Quantify the complete living-material feedback loop by connecting gene expression and cellular output to chemical conversion, network structure, rheology, transport, and material function.
• Identify failure modes at the biology–materials interface, including diffusion limitations, loss of activity, heterogeneous modification, burden on engineered cells, and changes in material integrity.
• Collaborate with synthetic chemists, polymer scientists, and bioengineers within MERLN and the wider network.
• Lead publications and conference contributions, contribute to project strategy and reporting, and support the supervision of PhD, MSc, and BSc researchers.

The initial objective is a well-controlled proof of concept showing that an engineered cellular output produces a measurable and programmable change in a SupraValent (supramolecular) hydrogel. The longer-term ambition is to develop adaptive materials in which biological and synthetic components cooperate to generate functions that neither component can achieve alone.

Are you ready to build materials that are not only compatible with life, but shaped by it? Then we would love to meet you.

Scientific background

Engineered living materials combine genetically programmable cells with material structures. They can potentially sense signals, perform biochemical transformations, and adapt over time, but a central challenge is to couple cellular activity to a controlled and measurable change in the host material. Passive encapsulation alone does not establish this feedback: the biological output, reaction chemistry, network architecture, and macroscopic material response must be connected.

SupraValent provides a distinctive platform for addressing this challenge. The project combines reversible BTA supramolecular assembly with covalent and dynamic-covalent reactive handles, creating hydrogels that can be reinforced or functionalized after assembly. This postdoctoral project will introduce the living component: engineered cells that trigger or carry out selected post-assembly modifications under defined conditions.

The work is deliberately interdisciplinary. Success will require rigorous synthetic-biology design and quantitative microbiology, but also curiosity about soft materials and a willingness to connect cellular function with chemical and mechanical measurements. The position offers the opportunity to shape an emerging direction within an established biomaterials team and to develop an independent profile at the interface of synthetic biology and materials science.

Key references

• Hafeez et al. Advanced Materials 2023, 35, 2301242. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202301242
• Morgan et al. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2024, 146, 27499–27516. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c08099
• Graham et al. Nature Chemical Biology 2024, 20, 1329–2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01628-y
• Tang et al. Nature Chemical Biology 2021, 17, 724–731. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00779-6

What you bring

We are interested in the combination of expertise, independence, and scientific perspective you would bring. The ideal candidate is an experimental synthetic biologist or microbial engineer who enjoys building and testing systems, quantifying their performance, and collaborating closely with researchers from chemistry and biomaterials.

Furthermore, you bring:

• A PhD, completed by the agreed starting date, in Synthetic Biology, Molecular Microbiology, Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Chemical Biology, Biomaterials, or a closely related field.
• Strong hands-on experience with microbial culture and genetic engineering, including independent design-build-test cycles, molecular cloning, expression-system optimization, and quantitative validation of cellular outputs.
• A track record of rigorous experimental design, troubleshooting, data analysis, and scientific communication, demonstrated through peer-reviewed research outputs appropriate to career stage.
• Experience with inducible gene expression, genetic circuits, protein secretion or surface display, enzyme production, metabolic engineering, or biosensing. Depth in at least one of these areas is more important than experience in all of them.
• Interest in connecting cell function to material properties and willingness to learn or apply hydrogel characterization methods such as rheology, microscopy, spectroscopy, diffusion or transport measurements, and chemical-conversion assays.
• The ability to work independently while building productive collaborations across synthetic biology, chemistry, materials science, and cell biology.
• Experience with engineered living materials, microbial encapsulation, biocontainment, hydrogel systems, enzyme-mediated material modification, or quantitative modelling is considered a strong advantage.
• A careful approach to biosafety, documentation, reproducibility, and responsible research with engineered microorganisms.
• Excellent command of scientific English (minimum CEFR level C1), as English is the working language of the group.
• Availability to start by early 2027 (or earlier). This date can be adjusted for highly qualified applicants.

What we offer

At Maastricht University, you will work in an international, open, and engaged environment. We offer:

• A 18-month contract (1,0 FTE) with the possibility of extension.
• A gross monthly salary between € 3.706 and € 5.760 (based on full-time employment of 38 hours per week). 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus.
• 29 vacation days (based on full-time), four additional days off (Carnival Monday and Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day), and the possibility to accrue up to 12 extra days through compensation hours.
• Freedom and space to shape your work independently and develop your ideas.
• A close-knit community of colleagues to collaborate and grow with.
• A solid pension plan via ABP, company fitness schemes, and access to various university sports facilities.
• An inspiring work environment in the heart of Europe.

About the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML)

FHML is committed to health in the broadest sense: from molecule to human, and from healthcare to prevention. We train healthcare professionals and researchers through innovative educational programs and conduct groundbreaking research in health and well-being. As part of Maastricht UMC+ (MUMC+), our international and interdisciplinary community forms a unique collaboration between university and academic hospital, where education, research, and care come together.

About MERLN

Research Institute MERLN (Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine) within FHML develops new technologies for the repair, regeneration, and in vitro modeling of tissues and organs. Within MERLN, the Department of Instructive Biomaterials Engineering (IBE) uses materials science and engineering to design biomaterials for applications ranging from medical devices and scaffolds for regenerative therapies to predictive in vitro models. By controlling material chemistry, structure, mechanics, and biological functionality, IBE researchers create systems that actively interact with and guide biological processes. The department brings together expertise in polymeric, inorganic, supramolecular, and bioactive materials at the interface of chemistry, engineering, and regenerative medicine.

Interested?

The deadline for submitting your application is 15 November 2026.

Please submit:

• CV
• Cover letter explaining your motivation and relevant experience
• Names and contact details of two referees

The selection process consists of two interviews: one conducted online and one on-site. During the on-site interview, candidates will be asked to give a presentation, followed by individual meetings with team members.

For more information about the scientific content of the position, contact Dr. Matthew Baker via m.baker@maastrichtuniversity.nl.