Postdoctoral Researcher for Molecular Mechanisms of Motor Neurodegeneration

Postdoctoral Researcher for Molecular Mechanisms of Motor Neurodegeneration
Postdoctoral Researcher for Molecular Mechanisms of Motor Neurodegeneration

Published	Deadline	Location
21 Oct	30 Nov	Nijmegen

Job description

Are you a scientist with a PhD degree or close to obtaining a PhD degree in neurobiology or a related field, and interested in a scientific career? Are you passionate about science and a critical and creative thinker? Are you interested in exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying motor neurodegenerative disease and perform cutting-edge biomedical research? Then you have a part to play as a postdoctoral researcher!
We are recruiting an ERC-funded postdoctoral researcher who will work independently on Drosophila genetics projects. Your main project will use reverse genetic approaches to model familial forms of motor neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases in Drosophila. You will evaluate the disease-relevance of the obtained knock-in Drosophila models by behavioural analysis, immunohistochemistry (IHC), confocal imaging and in vivo noncanonical amino acid tagging (NCAT) approaches. Finally, for valid disease models, you will dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms of disease using Drosophila genetic approaches complemented with behavioural analysis, IHC, FISH, imaging, molecular biology, biochemistry, and next-generation sequencing. In addition, you will have the opportunity to contribute to other ongoing projects in the lab, for example by studying the molecular pathogenesis of CMT peripheral neuropathy associated with mutations in tRNA synthetases, following up on our recently published work (Zuko, Mallik et al, Science, 2021), or characterising genes identified in a forward genetic screen for genes required for maintenance of peripheral motor and sensory axons (unpublished). You will have the opportunity to collaborate with and supervise Master's students, and in the longer run also PhD candidates. You will get some exposure to teaching in Master's courses. Eventually, the development of an independent research project that can be transferred to a future position is possible and highly encouraged.

Specifications

• €2960—€4670 per month
• Nijmegen View on Google Maps

Radboud University

Requirements

• You are a highly motivated, passionate, critical and creative individual with a strong publication record. 
• You are team-oriented, open to provide and receive feedback to/from lab mates, and keen to engage in scientific discussions.
• You hold a PhD in neurobiology, or a related field, and are interested in a scientific career.
• You have previous experience with Drosophila genetics and molecular biology.
• We are a dynamic international lab, so a good command of English is essential.

Conditions of employment

Fixed-term contract: It concerns a temporary employment for 2 years with the intention to extend for 2 more years.

• It concerns an employment for 1.0 FTE.
• The gross monthly salary amounts to a minimum of €2,960 and a maximum of €4,670 based on a 38-hour working week, depending on previous education and number of years of relevant work experience (salary scale 10 ).
• You will receive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• It concerns a temporary employment for 2 years with the option to extend for 2 more years.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Care Services . Our Dual Career and Family Care Officer can assist you with family-related support, help your partner or spouse prepare for the local labour market, provide customized support in their search for employment and help your family settle in Nijmegen.
• Working for us means getting extra days off. In case of full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the legally allotted 20.
• The vibrant international environment of the Donders Institute, which has a long tradition in neuroscience and offers a personal career development plan along with lecture series featuring top-notch speakers as well as several internal seminar series.
• You will be able to attend a Dutch language course free of charge. 

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions . You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.
Employer

Within the Department of Molecular Neurobiology , the Storkebaum lab combines Drosophila and mouse genetics to unravel molecular mechanisms underlying motor neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders. Our current focus is on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) peripheral neuropathy associated with mutations in tRNA synthetases and on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with mutations in FUS. More broadly, we are interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying axonal degeneration, with a focus on the role of mRNA translation defects. We use a broad spectrum of methods and techniques including a recently developed method for cell-type-specific in vivo labeling of newly synthesized proteins (NCAT), several high-end imaging techniques (confocal and super-resolution microscopy), single-molecule FISH, (single-cell/single-nucleus) transcriptomics, whole genome sequencing, mouse and Drosophila behavioural analysis, electromyography, histology, immunohistochemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry.
Our dynamic and international team currently consists of two postdocs, four PhD candidates and one technical assistant. In addition, we have strong international collaborations with scientists working on RNA biology and genetics. We attracted substantial external funding, including an ERC Consolidator grant, two JPND grants, and grants from the Radala Foundation for ALS Research, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), AFM, ARSLA, the Dutch ALS Association, Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO). We have published several papers in high-impact journals, including Science, Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Cell Biology, Nature Communications, Acta Neuropathologica, EMBO Journal and Plos Genetics.

Radboud University
We want to get the best out of science, others and ourselves. Why? Because this is what the world around us desperately needs. Leading research and education make an indispensable contribution to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. This is what unites the more than 24,000 students and 5,600 employees at Radboud University. And this requires even more talent, collaboration and lifelong learning. You have a part to play!
Additional information
For questions about the position, please contact Erik Storkebaum, Group leader and Department head at  [email protected] .
Radboud University

We want to get the best out of science, others and ourselves. Why? Because this is what the world around us desperately needs. Leading research and education make an indispensable contribution to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all.

You have a part to play!

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Application procedure
You can apply until 30 November 2022, exclusively using the button below. Kindly address your application to Erik Storkebaum. Please fill in the application form and attach the following documents:

• A letter of motivation.
• Your CV, including the contact details of at least two references.

The first round of interviews will take place on Wednesday 14 December. You would preferably begin employment on 1 February 2023.
We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure . It offers a rough outline of what you can expect during the application process, how we handle your personal data and how we deal with internal and external candidates.