Pre-doc Researcher in Computational Glycobiology

13 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Universitat de Barcelona

Department

OPIR- International Research Projects office

Research Field

Chemistry

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Spain

Application Deadline

15 Mar 2024 - 00:00 (Europe/Brussels)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

HE / MSCA

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Professor Carme Rovira is looking for one PhD student to work in computational glycobiology. They will be applying state-of-art computational methods to model enzymatic reactions and glycan-protein interactions, developing new algorithms and applying them to the analysis of simulation data to aid drug discovery. Recent projects of the group can be found at: http://www.ub.edu/sqpbio

The GLYCO-N training network aims at training Doctoral Candidates (DCs) to acquire the skills to develop different innovative strategies to 1) understand the diversity and structural complexity of archaeal, microalgal and viral N-glycosylation and 2) harness this knowledge for new solutions in biomedicine and biotechnology.

Protein N-glycosylation, or the attachment of oligo- and polysaccharides at specific asparagine residues, is conserved throughout life, and is now observed even in the viral world. In contrast to eukaryotes, whose well-studied N-glycosylation machineries are relatively simple, archaea, microalgae and bacteria utilize a wide variety of monosaccharides to create a wealth of structurally diverse N-glycans, and the same holds true for some recently discovered viruses. Because protein glycosylation occurs far downstream of protein synthesis the complexity and diversity in N-glycan structures are poorly understood in detail. This holds true specifically for N-glycosylation events that are the subject of the GLYCO-N program: those in archaea, microalgae and viruses.

Understanding of the how and why of N-glycosylation in these organisms will open up many possibilities ranging from drug discovery (antivirals) to biotechnology (glycoprotein and glycoprocessing enzyme engineering for materials and life sciences).

The GLYCO-N network brings together a diverse group of glycobiology researchers with world-leading expertise in microbiology, (bio)organic chemistry, computational and structural biology, bioinformatics and chemical biology. The GLYCO-N DC in the group of Prof. Carme Rovira will have their own individual project and will be exposed to complementary Glycoscience in research groups and biotech companies from the GLYCO-N consortia.

The group of Prof. Carme Rovira is internationally recognized for its work in computational glycobiology. The project of the GLYCO-N DC is intended to characterize computationally the carbohydrates that are attached to Asn residues in proteins and its interaction with proteins and enzymes, including binding and reactivity. The techniques/tools to be used are docking, structure and sequence alignment, molecular dynamics and ab initio MD simulations, specifically quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM). The work is presential and the student will be enrolled in a PhD program of the UB.

Key Duties

• Conduct high-quality research
• Write manuscripts that can be published in prestigious journals
• Present your research at group meetings
• Keeping high quality and organized lab notebook and progress reports
• Collaborate with various research groups across Europe
• Help supervise MSc, undergraduate students and visitors
• Participate in meetings of the GLYCO-N consortium
• Attend courses, seminars and other training activities (upon supervisor agreement)
• Get involved in group duties

Requirements

Research Field

Chemistry

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

- A completed master’s degree in a Chemistry-related discipline by Sept 2024. Alternatively, the equivalent qualifications to be enrolled in a PhD program at UB.

- Outstanding academic record

- Strong motivation for scientific research in an interdisciplinary and international environment

- Excellent English presentation and writing skills

- Good organizational and communication skills, being a team-player

- Experience in molecular dynamics simulations of proteins and enzymes, data analysis and interpretation

- Experience in glycobiology

- Knowledge of the Linux operating system

Specific Requirements

At the time of recruitment by the host organisation, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Additional Information
Additional comments

To apply:

1) Application letter

2) Curriculum vitae

3) Full academic record (for both bachelor and MSc studies)

4) Two recommendation letters from senior scholars that know the candidate and have interacted with him professionally. These need to be sent directly to [email protected] , with the name of the applicant and the words GLYCO-N in the subject, e.g. “recommendation letter for Ms. Jane Smith (GLYCO-N)”

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Universitat de Barcelona

Country

Spain

City

Barcelona

Postal Code

08028

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

State/Province

Barcelona

City

Barcelona

Website

http://www.ub.edu/opir

Street

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585.

Postal Code

08007

E-Mail

[email protected]
[email protected]

Phone

+34 934039254

STATUS: EXPIRED