PhD in Experimental Optics: Micro-endoscopic Probe for Stimulated Raman Histology

PhD in Experimental Optics: Micro-endoscopic Probe for Stimulated Raman Histology

Research focus and applicant fit

This three-year experimental optics doctorate aims to bring chemically specific tissue imaging into a miniature endoscopic probe. The central challenge goes beyond reducing a microscope's size: stimulated Raman detection and endoscopic signal collection favour different propagation geometries. Applicants would work across speciality fibres, ultrashort-pulse instrumentation and tissue validation. Producing a useful research image is one step; establishing a dependable clinical diagnosis remains a separate challenge.

The French National Centre for Scientific Research is the advertised employer, while PhLAM at the University of Lille is the research host. The retained complete official English offer, reference UMR8523-ALEKUD-009, gives 36 months full time, €2,300 gross monthly, a planned 1 January 2027 start, and a deadline of 16 November 2026 at 23:59. The page does not label the deadline timezone. Alexandre Kudlinski supervises, in close collaboration with Hervé Rigneault at Institut Fresnel/Aix-Marseille University and Lightcore Technologies. University doctoral admission and registration are separate from employment selection; collaboration does not establish a joint degree.

Research problem and doctoral work

The advertisement combines stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy, advanced hollow-core fibres and miniature fibre-probe assembly. It targets images resembling conventional H&E histology, primarily for gastrointestinal cancers, while exploring urological tissues and surgical margins. Validation on relevant biological tissues is planned with clinical partners. No fixed probe diameter, imaging rate, diagnostic sensitivity or patient-trial design is promised.

The RamanSCOPE funding-agency summary used in the existing report explains why this is difficult: SRS detects modulation transferred between two laser beams efficiently in the forward direction, whereas an endoscopic probe ordinarily collects a returning signal. It proposes backward detection through advanced miniature assembly and high-resolution 3D glass fabrication. The scientific partnership and direction match the advertised work, but the agency's project-level budget is not proof of which exact budget line funds this employee. Its prototype/commercial ambitions remain objectives. RamanSCOPE project.

An evidence-informed way to discuss the doctoral tasks is to separate pulse delivery and overlap, miniaturised focusing/scanning, useful return collection versus fibre background, instrument control, and paired tissue validation. These are analytical work areas, not a published fixed protocol. Image quality must be judged against histology and tissue heterogeneity; virtual colouring that looks familiar is not itself diagnostic accuracy. The relevant figures of merit include signal-to-noise, chemical contrast, usable field of view, acquisition speed, reproducibility under bending, and tissue-safe exposure. Sterilisation, regulatory approval and a clinical trial should not be presumed parts of a completed device.

University, subject and doctoral training

Lille supplies the university environment, PhLAM the laboratory, and the public research employer the employment contract. The likely doctoral context is SMRE, whose remit includes physics and related sciences across Lille partner institutions; confirm the exact registering school, degree-awarding institution and approval before signing. SMRE describes Master-equivalent entry, original research, thesis and public defence, and checks adequate funding throughout the doctorate. Its school provision is separate from any collaborator's degree authority. SMRE school, joining SMRE.

PhLAM's research infrastructure includes the FiberTech Lille and CERLA platforms and engineering/technology support. Relevant capabilities are clear, but student access, fabrication support and maintenance delays require project-level confirmation. Lille is 401–500 in ARWU 2026; the broader GRAS 2026 Instruments Science & Technology band is 201–300. Neither ranks this micro-endoscopy project or an individual supervisor. PhLAM environment, ranking year and scope.

French doctoral training includes an individual development pathway, research ethics/integrity, open science and career development. An independent annual monitoring committee, CSI, reviews progress and working conditions before second-year enrolment and each subsequent re-enrolment, including a private discussion without supervisors. These are useful institutional safeguards, not substitutes for daily technical support. The exact SMRE training-credit requirement was not verified and has not been borrowed from another Lille school. Training framework, CSI.

Supervisors, papers and research readiness

Kudlinski's university biography records a Lille doctorate, a Bath postdoctoral appointment, a 2011 habilitation on dispersion/nonlinearity in microstructured fibres and professorship since 2016. Rigneault's lab materials connect coherent Raman, nonlinear microscopy and speciality-fibre endoscopy with industry translation. His separate SpeckleCARS project is relevant background, not an additional award to this student. Kudlinski biography, Fresnel endoscopy research, Rigneault research profile.

The existing report records selected main-text reading of three recent primary research works. Septier and colleagues' 2022 Optics Express paper demonstrates hollow-core/GRIN-based multimodal nonlinear endoscopy, including two-/three-photon, harmonic and CARS imaging. It discusses parasitic third-harmonic signal from tip optics and tissue preparation, showing that apparently small assembly choices affect image attribution. Kudlinski is corresponding author and Rigneault a coauthor; the read text provides no detailed individual contribution matrix, so specific bench tasks are not assigned to them. This is not SRS cancer-diagnostic validation. Published full text.

The 2024 stand-alone endoscope manuscript integrates fibre delivery, a movable rack, scanning calibration, dwell-time/power management and acquisition software. It demonstrates handheld human forearm autofluorescence; higher-order nonlinear imaging still uses an external tabletop laser via delivery fibre. Both supervisors are coauthors. The actual version read is the arXiv manuscript, while Fresnel separately lists the related peer-reviewed IEEE publication; its final full text was not read. It establishes integration experience, not an already solved SRS backward-collection system. Research manuscript.

Sarri and colleagues' 2024 npj Imaging work supplies complementary tissue evidence: forward-detected SRS and backward SHG support virtual histology and repeated live organoid imaging. The contribution statement credits Sarri with experiments/data treatment and Rigneault with SRH assistance and manuscript work; other collaborators supply organoid/clinical/histology expertise. Depth, illumination and sample mounting constrain interpretation. These are organoid/biopsy microscope experiments, not in-patient endoscopy or proof of diagnostic equivalence for the proposed probe. Updated main article.

The 2024 author correction changes affiliations and replaces the originally wrong supplementary file. A further 2025 publisher correction is identified on the updated main page, but its full notice could not be retrieved; no details are assumed, and supplementary numerical claims are avoided. The extra 2023 hollow-core coupler paper was read only as a publisher abstract: it reports fabrication and collection-transfer evidence, not a fully inspected experimental protocol or detailed author credit. Author correction, coupler abstract.

This record supports complementary fibre/instrument and Raman/tissue expertise. It leaves meaningful questions about daily supervision, allocation between Lille and Marseille, access to clinical samples, feedback turnaround and publication/IP terms with Lightcore. Commercial participation is not a promised permanent job or fixed internship.

Salary, fees and Lille living costs

The offer's €2,300 is gross monthly employment pay, equivalent to €27,600 gross over twelve months by arithmetic. It is neither a net payment nor a tax-free stipend. The national doctoral-contract guidance independently confirms the research-only minimum of €2,300 gross from January 2026 and the employment/social-protection framework. Actual deductions, tax, first payroll and any future adjustments require payroll confirmation; a net salary has not been invented. Doctoral employment framework.

The retained offer lists 44 combined annual-leave/RTT days, 75% eligible transport reimbursement, and a sustainable-mobility allowance up to €300, subject to applicable terms. A generic teleworking heading does not establish that a laser-lab doctorate can be completed remotely. Confirm the contract and travel arrangements, especially work with Marseille partners.

Lille's actual 2026/27 fee page lists €398 annual doctorate registration, including non-EU doctoral candidates at standard fees, plus €105 CVEC, unless an exemption applies. The annual exemption rules do not establish that every salaried researcher is automatically exempt. The offer does not state that the employer pays these charges. Registration, CVEC and salary must therefore be kept separate. University fees, annual exemption rules.

The university's current local guide suggests €800–1,300 monthly for one person including housing, with shared rent €300–450 and a studio €450–650, before variations in lifestyle and utilities. Deposits, guarantor requirements, insurance and initial accommodation matter. The older 2025/26 housing guide helps identify channels and guarantors, but its broad housing-benefit wording should not override newer eligibility rules; do not budget an unapproved subsidy. Because net salary is unknown, subtracting this budget from €2,300 would create a misleading take-home balance. Current living budget, housing and guarantors.

Eligibility, application and decision questions

The advertised academic level is BAC+5, normally a Master's or equivalent, with strong interest in experimental optics, independence, initiative and practical problem-solving. Instrument control, electronics, optical design such as Zemax and image processing are advantages, not four compulsory pre-existing specialisms. Specific English/French scores, international-equivalence decisions and the complete document/referee list are unconfirmed. A short technical account of an optical experiment, calibration, alignment or image-analysis problem can demonstrate readiness; this is preparation advice rather than an official requested document.

There is no nationality exclusion in the retained offer. A Chinese applicant with an appropriate overseas qualification still needs degree-equivalence approval, doctoral registration and the relevant employment/immigration permissions. The EU's France researcher guidance links the non-EU researcher route to a Master-equivalent diploma and accredited hosting agreement; visa approval is individual. This is laboratory work in France, not an offer of employment performed from China. Researcher immigration guidance.

Use the employer's formal application procedure and exact reference. Contact Kudlinski at alexandre.kudlinski@univ-lille.fr to clarify the closing timezone, required materials, start-date flexibility and foreign qualification/language requirements. Employment selection does not itself complete university admission. The short interval between the November deadline and January start makes hosting documents and arrival planning consequential. The saved materials do not show the logged-in application fields; confirm the exact documents and remaining steps through the employer process.

Career directions

The likely transferable paths are optical instrumentation, fibre/probe development, biophotonic R&D and image-analysis or scientific applications work. The 2025 OptoNet primary survey reports demand across R&D, electronics and software but also weaker business conditions; it covers Thuringia, not French doctoral employment outcomes. Lightcore's current SRS histology products demonstrate a relevant translation route, while company claims are not independent clinical accuracy or regulatory evidence. Industry survey and its geography, company technology.

Questions before commitment

At interview, ask how the backward SRS signal will be isolated from background; what probe, speed and exposure targets define the first demonstrator; which tissue/pathologist comparisons and ethical approvals are already available; and how fibre design, assembly, control and image analysis are divided between partners. Before acceptance, obtain the employment contract, net-pay illustration, fee/CVEC payer, doctoral registration, visa timetable, daily supervision plan and travel/IP arrangements. Successful tissue images should lead to a defined validation plan, not an assumption that a clinical diagnostic device is already available.

Evidence and Sources

The recruitment details reflect a record saved on 27 October 2026; that snapshot does not establish that applications remain open. Paper-reading claims retain the saved selected-section limits: the 2024 standalone system is represented by its arXiv version, the coupler by its abstract, and the 2025 correction notice remains unread. Institutional, fee, housing and industry references retain their stated dates and limits.

• Saved vacancy reference UMR8523-ALEKUD-009

Programme, people and research

• RamanSCOPE ANR project
• Alexandre Kudlinski university biography
• Fresnel speciality fiber endoscopy research
• Rigneault SpeckleCARS research profile
• PhLAM research environment
• SMRE graduate school
• Joining SMRE
• Lille Shanghai ranking 2026

Primary publications and correction

• Multimodal nonlinear microendoscope 2022
• Standalone nonlinear endoscope preprint 2024
• Live organoid stimulated Raman histology 2024
• Hollow-core double-clad coupler 2023
• Organoid paper author correction 2024

Employment, costs, training and careers

• Public law doctoral contract
• Lille registration and CVEC 2026/27
• Lille fee exemptions
• Lille living budget
• Lille accommodation guide 2025/26
• Researcher migration France
• Individual doctoral monitoring committee
• Individual training pathway
• Photonics labour market 2025
• Lightcore histology technology