Positions available

 

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 Positions available

1. "Prospecting for novel biocatalysts"
   Presently none available.
   New positions will be available with startup first half of 2010.
   

2. "Structure based anticancer drug discovery"
   Postdoctoral and PhD positions at NorStruct

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                                   "Prospecting for novel biocatalysts"
 

At present there are no available positions at the Norwegian Structural Biology Centre (NorStruct) in Tromsø, on projects related to "Prospecting for novel biocatalysts". However, new positions will be available with tentative startup first half of 2010.

The candidates will work on projects aimed at the discovery and development of novel biocatalysts with commercial interest. The sources are whole genomes of psychrophilic bacteria or environmental (metagenome) libraries constructed from Arctic sediments. The projects are at different stages; some in the in silico and functional screening process, others in the enzyme characterization and development stages where "proof of concept" is the main tasks.

Relevant background and interests that can be combined or specialized dependent on the candidates:

1. Bioinformatics
   Sequence analysis (derived from genomes/metagenomes); annotation, classification and management.
   
2. Molecular Biology
   Protein production; including cloning, recombinant expression, fermentation and protein purification.
   
3. Enzymology - Enzyme characterization
   Enzyme characterization; enzymology, biophysics and 3D-structure; structure-function relation studies.
   
4. Bio-nanotechnology
   Design of tools in biotechnology and diagnostics.

Contact:
Norwegian Structural Biology Centre (NorStruct)
University of Tromsø
9037 Tromsø
http://uit.no/norstruct

Prof. Arne O. Smalås, e-mail: arne.smalas@uit.no

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                              "Structure based anticancer drug discovery"
                                        Postdoctoral and PhD positions at NorStruct

Postdoctoral and PhD research position(s) are available at the Norwegian Structural Biology Centre (NorStruct) in Tromsø, on projects related to "Structure based anticancer drug discovery". The positions are to be filled in the period July 2009 to Jan 2010, and are of 2 to 4 years durations. Successful candidates will work on collaborative projects in basic and applied studies of protein kinase inhibitors as anticancer drugs, concentrating on crystallography, physical binding studies, screening, theoretical modelling, and chemical synthesis. As members of a research group with diverse techniques and methodologies, candidates with a broad range of specializations and/or interests will be considered:

1. Simulation and theoretical modeling
   With a background in applied mathematics, the postdoctoral scientist will be responsible for deriving and parameterizing models to simulate the dynamics of the evolution of cancer drug resistance, and also for advancing methods for modeling drug/enzyme interactions.
   

2. Medicinal chemistry/chemical synthesis
   The doctoral and/or postdoctoral scientist will be responsible for experimental and chemogenomic studies of libraries of chemical compounds with respect to binding selectivity profiles across the kinome, and their use in inhibitor design.
   

3. Crystallography
   Tasks include primarily co-crystallization studies of kinase inhibitors with a set of kinase targets, both of kinase domain constructs and of kinase complexes.
   

4. Binding studies and screening
   Tasks include the measurement of binding constants with calorimetric and other methods, the design of kinase screening systems for use in bioprospecting and other drug discovery programs.

Contact:
Norwegian Structural Biology Centre (NorStruct)
University of Tromsø
9037 Tromsø
http://uit.no/norstruct

Prof. Richard A. Engh, e-mail: Richard.engh@uit.no

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