Two Postdoctoral Positions within Drug Discovery and Protein Biochemistry at Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. The Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen is offering two temporary postdoctoral positions within Fragment-based drug discovery against CNS protein targets.
Department information
The Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology delivers research and teaching within a wide range of drug-related disciplines, spanning the molecular, cellular, and pharmacological levels. The applicant(s) will become part of a new research group at the department initially comprising one PhD student, two postdocs (the applicants) and the group leader (Assist. Prof. Anders Bach).
The positions are for two years from January 18th, 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter with the possibility of extension.
Project description
The postdoctoral projects will focus on the development of novel small molecules against proteins in the brain. The proteins are involved in key pathological processes like oxidative stress and excitotoxicity, which play a fundamental role in CNS diseases such as ischemic stroke and neurodegeneration. In the search for small molecule inhibitors, essential knowledge of the ‘ligandability’ of the proteins is attained, and new inhibitors can serve as valuable tools for further pharmacological studies. Thus, this project can contribute significantly to the discovery of new therapeutic principles against challenging targets and CNS diseases.
The overall goal of the postdoc projects is to develop and apply the technological tools that will allow us to identify, characterize and optimize novel fragments (small and simple substructures of druglike compounds) into potent and bioactive inhibitors. Specifically, the key tasks will be to express and purify proteins, setup biochemical and biophysical assays (e.g. NMR, SPR, ITC) for characterizing protein function and performing screenings of our in-house fragment library, and assist in the optimization process and biostructural studies of fragment hits.
The 2 postdoc positions are financed by the Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship starting grant.
General job description / tasks involved
Your key tasks as postdoc at the department are to:
• manage and carry through your research project
• write scientific articles
• participate in national and international congresses and scientific meetings
• participate in teaching
Your qualifications / requirements – The applicants must have:
• Obtained a PhD degree within biochemistry, biotechnology, molecular biology, structural biology or related fields.
• Experience with recombinant DNA technology and protein expression, purification and characterization
• Fluency in English and excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Information
For further information, please contact
Assistant Professor Anders Bach, anders.bach@sund.ku.dk,
Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology,
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences,
University of Copenhagen.
You can also find more information at www.drug.ku.dk.
Application
The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking “APPLY ONLINE” below.
Application Please include:
•Application/Cover letter including motivation
•Curriculum vitae
•Diplomas (PhD and MSc)
•A complete list of publications indicating articles relevant to the position, including copies of these articles (max. 5)
•Documentation of teaching qualifications (if available)
•At least two recommendation letters
Deadline: September 30th, 2015.
The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.