PhD: Surface engineering of transaminases to tailor protein immobilization on microreactors


Roles and Responsibilities
The half part of your PhD research (18 months) will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Fernando López-Gallego in the group of Heterogeneous Biocatalysis of Cooperative institute for biomaterials (CICbiomaGUNE) in San Sebastián (Spain). The second half of the PhD work (18 months) will be at the company MICRONET (Netherlands) under the supervision of Dr. Maciej Skolimowski and Dr. Elwin Vrouwe. The PhD project is funded for three years starting from January 2020 (M1) and the date of recruitment is planned for July 2020 (M7) latest on December 2020 (M12).


Your PhD degree will be awarded based on successful completion of the research work from Chemistry School at University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU). You will also be required to participate in the training events and workshops organized by the ITN-EID. As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (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) Cloninng, overexpressing and purifying -transaminases,
(ii) Engineering of purifying -transaminases using molecular biology methods
(ii) Immobilization of -transaminases on microreactors,
(ii) Functional and structural characterization of the immobilized enzymes,
Recruiting (Hiring) Institution: CIC biomAGUNE (CIC)
Address applications to:. Prof. Dr. López-Gallego (flopez@cicbiomagune.es)

Requirements

  • An outstanding M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology or Biochemistry,
  • Eligible as a graduate student at Univerity of Basque Country, Spain
  • At the time of recruitment, the applicant must not have resided (or carried out his/her main activity e.g. work, studies, etc.) in Spain, for more than 12 months in the last three years immediately prior to the reference recruitment date,
  • Research experience in biocatalysis, enzyme immobilization, biophysical techniques
  • Experience in analytical methods (HPLC, GC, MS, etc.),
  • Ability to work in an international team,
  • Inter- and multidisciplinary thinking,
  • High motivation,
  • An integrative and cooperative personality with excellent communication and social skills,
  • Fluency in English – written and oral.
    Application Procedure To apply for the position, kindly provide: (i) A letter of motivation including a one-page statement of your research interests, relevant skills and experience; (ii) A CV including publication list; and
    (iii) Names and contact details of three referees willing to write confidential letters of recommendation.
    Applications of women and disabled persons are particularly welcome.
    All materials should be attached as a single PDF file (max. size 5MB). The PDF file name should include your first name and last name (using “surname_firstname.pdf”).
    Deadline
    The closing date for all applications is 01st of March 2020 or as soon as suitable candidates have been identified.