PhD position Protein engineering novel enzyme reactions in MSCA-DN BiodeCCodiNNg (DC4)

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The main part of your PhD research (4 years in total) will be carried out at the University of Groningen (RUG, the Netherlands) under the supervision of Assist. Prof. Dr. Sandy Schmidt in the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Biology at the Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy. Within these four years, two academic research stays (in total 10 months) will take place at the University of Graz (UG, Austria) under the supervision of Prof. Karl Gruber, and at the University of Zagreb (UZAG, Croatia) under the supervision of Prof. Zvjezdana Findrik Blaževic. Additionally, an industrial secondment at the company AstraZeneca (Gothenburg, Sweden) is foreseen. The Horizon Europe Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – Doctoral Network (DN) project starts in January 2023. The date of recruitment and start of the PhD project is planned for May 2023 and latest in December 2023. Your PhD degree will be awarded based on successful completion of the research work from University of Groningen (RUG, the Netherlands). You will also be required to participate in the training events and workshops organized by the DN program. As a MSCA fellow, you are also expected to contribute your time in the dissemination of your PhD project’s result through public engagement and other scientific platforms.

The PhD research will focus on:

(i) Interdisciplinary project on biocatalysis, structural biology and chemistry
(ii) Evaluation of substrate- and reaction scopes of novel nitrogen-nitrogen bond forming enzymes,
(iii) Solving the crystal structures of relevant enzymes and elucidating reaction mechanism (1st academic secondment),
(iv) Protein engineering and assay development,
(v) Characterization studies and preparative-scale reactions (2nd academic secondment),
(vi) Up-scaling of relevant reactions (industrial secondment).

Primary supervisor: Dr. Sandy Schmidt ([email protected] , http://schmidt-researchgroup.com )

Recruiting institution: University of Groningen (the Netherlands)

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• a salary of € 2,541 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,247 gross per month in the fourth and final year
• a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
• an 8.3% end-of-year bonus and participation in a pension scheme for employees
• first, a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years. Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected. A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering.

The 1.0 FTE appointment is temporary for a specified period of four years. The preferred starting date is between May 1st and July 1st 2023. The conditions of employment:

https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/

Dr. Sandy Schmidt, for more information about the project or questions about the position,   [email protected]