Doctoral student in biochemistry - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Job description

A PhD-position is announced in biochemistry. The research project will be directed towards structural and functional characterizations of pain receptors from insects and man. These comparative studies are aiming at identification of selective agonists that activate pain receptors of the pine weevil. These receptors are targets for the development of antifeedants that can be used to prevent damages by the pine weevil on conifer seedlings in the reestablishment of forests in clear-felled areas. To expand the knowledge on the structure and function of these targets, a certain type of pain receptors (TRPA1 ion channels) of pine weevil and man will be overexpressed, solubilized and purified from a yeast in a similar way as have been described in Moparthi et al., 2014 (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 111(47):16901-16906) and Survery et al., 2016 (J Biol Chem. 291(52):26899-26912). The work will include general molecular biological methods and biochemical methods for separation and analysis of membrane proteins. Functional studies will be carried out on the purified receptor after it has been incorporated in a lipid membrane. The structural characterization of the isolated protein, with or without the agonist present, will primarily be done by x-ray crystallography, but also by means of circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering, tryptophan fluorescence, cross-linking and mass spectrometry. Protein modelling, docking studies and site directed mutagenesis are complementing methods in detailed analyses of the binding sites of the agonists.

Qualifications

The succesful candidate should have at least 4 years of academic education in biochemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology or similar including an independent project. A masters degree is a merit. Practical experience of the above described research area and methods are merits.

How to apply:

Application is done online and should include a CV with two reference persons with contact details (email), title and summary of independent project, a list of courses and the grades achieved and the diploma for the achieved degree. Other merits can be included.

In the application the following questions should be addressed:

• why is the applicant a suitable candidate for the PhD-position? (1/2 A4-page)
• based on the articles Moparthi et al., 2014 and Survery et al., 2016 referred to above, state a relevant research question and describe how it potentially could be addressed (1/2 A4-page).

Eligibility
Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who- have completed a second-cycle degree- have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.