Postdoctoral researcher in molecular mechanisms of transcription

The Molecular Mechanisms of Transcription laboratory at the Department of Life Technologies, University of Turku, Finland is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join our international team. The laboratory studies mechanisms of RNA polymerase functioning, transcription systems of medically relevant bacteria and the mechanisms of action of transcription inhibitors. A successful candidate will have a choice of projects ranging from in vitro mechanistic studies using biophysical methods to in vivo studies of gene expression, genome editing and in vivo analysis of protein-protein interaction using crosslinking mass spectrometry. More information about our research at https://rnapolymerase.org .

A representative recent publication:

Mäkinen J.J., Shin Y., Vieras E., Virta P., Metsä-Ketelä M., Murakami K.S., Belogurov G.A. (2021) The mechanism of the nucleo-sugar selection by multi-subunit RNA polymerases. Nat. Commun. 12:796. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21005-w

The applicant should hold a PhD in biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology or related field and have hands-on expertise with basic biochemical assays. Ideally, the postdoctoral candidate should have some experience with in vitro transcription, nucleic acid enzymes and biophysical assays (but this is not a prerequisite as training will be provided). The research will be performed in close collaboration with structural biology, synthetic biology and chemistry teams. The applicant's ability to handle structural information (atomic models, density maps) and good knowledge of chemistry are a plus. The working language of the laboratory is English: good knowledge of written and spoken English is essential, whereas knowledge of Finnish is not a requirement. Please submit your application using the online application system  by 31.10.2021 (GMT+2 timezone). Link to the online application form .

For questions and informal inquiries, contact Dr. Georgi Belogurov .