Project Introduction:

Life and health are crucial societal and livelihood issues. Among the various bodily fluids, tears contain a multitude of inorganic salts, proteins, metabolites, biomarkers, etc., offering an extremely rich and vital source of information for health monitoring and clinical disease diagnosis. However, real-time, continuous, in-situ, and non-invasive methods for analyzing and testing tear fluid have yet to be developed, posing challenges in diagnosing and treating many ocular and systemic diseases.

Professor Ma Wei's team at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, has achieved a series of influential research outcomes in multimodal physiological signal detection based on Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) (e.g., Nat. Electron. 2023, 6, 281; npj Flex. Electron. 2022, 6, 77). Chief Physician Professor Li Li's team at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University has long been engaged in clinical and applied basic research in ocular surface diseases and corneal disorders. Against the backdrop of Xi'an's efforts to establish a National Medical Center and Regional Medical Center, and Xi'an Jiaotong University's initiative to build a Medical Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral team, the two teams are now jointly recruiting 2 Medical Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellows to conduct research on "Contact Lenses Integrated with Intelligent Molecular Optoelectronic Devices." The aim is to leverage the teams' strengths in OECT-based physiological signal detection to develop intelligent contact lenses that meet actual clinical diagnosis and treatment needs.

Recruitment Requirements:

Candidates must hold a doctoral degree (generally obtained within the past 3 years), are generally not exceeding 32 years of age, and are in good physical and mental health. They should have conducted research in one of the following areas: organic semiconductors, polymer physics, polymer chemistry, polymer processing and molding, or ophthalmology, have achieved notable accomplishments in the relevant field, and demonstrate strong potential for academic development.

Interested applicants should visit the Xi'an Jiaotong University Recruitment website (careers.xjtu.edu.cn), click on "Position Categories" - "Postdoctoral," select "Postdoctoral Fellow for the Research Team on Contact Lenses Integrated with Intelligent Molecular Optoelectronic Devices," and complete the online application form. The application deadline is June 25, 2023. Contacting the team leaders prior to application is welcome.

Remuneration and Career Advancement:

The appointment period for Medical Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellows is generally 4 years, divided into Categories A and B. Both categories implement an annual salary system, with specific disbursement as follows:

(1) Category A: Salary is 200,000 RMB/year for the first two years. Upon passing the mid-term assessment with a rating of "Qualified" or above, the salary for the latter two years increases to 250,000 RMB/year, and a lump sum of 100,000 RMB will be paid retroactively for the first two years. Those who fail the assessment will be managed under Category B.

(2) Category B: Salary is 160,000 RMB/year. Those rated "Excellent" in the mid-term assessment may apply for Category A. Selection involves expert review organized by the Medical Department and approval by the Faculty Appointment Committee and the special task force. If selected, the salary will be implemented at 250,000 RMB/year.

Additionally, social insurance, housing provident fund, etc., will be paid according to national regulations, with standards not lower than those for similar personnel at the university. Fellows may enjoy other awards from the school/department and the research team, which are not included in the contracted total compensation. Postdoctoral fellows are eligible for the university's policy regarding children's schooling and may rent talent apartments.

The university allocates separate quotas for the promotion of Medical Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellows to senior professional positions and prioritizes support for their applications to various talent programs at all levels. Those who pass the appointment assessment and meet the university's criteria for its talent programs or promotion to senior professional positions may apply for corresponding positions at the university. Those meeting the promotion criteria of the affiliated hospital may also apply for corresponding positions there, with their personnel relations transferring to the hospital upon promotion. Alternatively, they may apply for the qualification of Associate Senior Professional Title after completing the postdoctoral term. Those who complete the contract tasks ahead of schedule during the appointment period and meet the university's talent program conditions, senior professional position promotion criteria, or the affiliated hospital's promotion conditions may apply for corresponding positions at any time.

Contact Information:

Professor Wei Ma: msewma@xjtu.edu.cn

Professor & Chief Physician Li Li: eyelili2010@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Team Leader Profiles:

Professor Wei Ma is a Distinguished Professor of the Chang Jiang Scholars Program (MOE), a Young Thousand Talents Scholar, a member of the Shaanxi Province Long-term Innovation Hundred Talents Plan, and a China Young Scientific and Technological Rising Star. He is engaged in the development of organic optoelectronic materials and devices and has published over 140 research papers in prestigious journals including Nat. Energy, Joule, Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., J. Am. Chem. Soc., and Adv. Energy. Mater. As first/corresponding author, he has published nearly 50 papers with an impact factor greater than 10. Twenty-six of his papers have been selected as ESI Highly Cited Papers (top 1%), and 10 have been selected as ESI Hot Papers (top 0.1%). His work has been cited over 38,000 times with an h-index of 92, and he has been consecutively listed as a Clarivate Global Highly Cited Researcher for five years (2018-2022). He currently leads one sub-project under a National Key R&D Program of China and one project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for Young Scientists, and participates in one NSFC Key Project. From 2016 to 2018, three of his supervised graduate students consecutively received the "Exemplary Graduate Student" award from Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Professor Li Li holds a Ph.D. in Ophthalmology, is a Chief Physician, a doctoral supervisor, and serves as the Deputy Director of the Ophthalmology Department at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. She is a committee member of the Ocular Infection Group under the Chinese Medical Doctor Association Ophthalmology Branch, a committee member of the Corneal Disease Group under the Ophthalmology Branch of the Chinese Women Physicians' Association, and a committee member of the Ocular Surface and Tear Film Diseases Group under the Ophthalmology Committee of the Cross-Strait Medicine Exchange Association. She is dedicated to clinical and applied basic research in ocular surface diseases and corneal disorders. Her research findings have been published in professional journals such as AJO, CORNEA, and Acta Ophthalmologica. She has led 2 NSFC projects and 3 scientific research projects in Shaanxi Province (including one for key industrial chains). She has published 16 SCI-indexed papers and over 20 Chinese core journal papers as first or corresponding author. She participated in the drafting of national expert consensuses, including the "Chinese Expert Consensus on Clinical Application of Therapeutic Bandage Contact Lenses," "Consensus on Viral Corneal Endotheliitis," and "Clinical Consensus on Acanthamoeba Keratitis."