10 international PhD positions to develop prokaryote proteomics at high temperature for single cells
These positions are provided by PROHITS, a European MSCA Doctoral Network project. The interdisciplinary research aim of PROHITS is the integration of experimental and computational approaches that can resolve the proteome of prokaryotes at single cell level, and at a range of temperatures, in order to improve our understanding of thermophile biology and to guide the optimized design of cell factories.
The project will involve the development of microfluidics, mass spectrometry (MS) and associated bioinformatics to handle single prokaryotic cells, as well as MS-based thermal proteome profiling (TPP) to study the thermal response of the proteome of thermophiles. These data will be used to understand the in vivo thermal stability of proteins, and create genome-scale models of thermophiles to optimize them as cell factories.
PROHITS is a collaborative project between eight teams in five countries, from both academia and biotech industry, that will offer a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary structured curriculum for doctoral students. 10 fellowships (for DCs, Doctoral Candidates) are available in the areas of microfluidics, mass spectrometry, synthetic biology, bioinformatics and genome modelling:
- DC1: Prediction and interpretation of thermophilic proteins (Computational, VUB, Brussels, Belgium)
- DC2: Thermophilic prokaryotes cultivation and biology (Experimental, VUB, Brussels, Belgium)
- DC3: Single prokaryote cell MS data analysis (Computational, VIB, Gent, Belgium)
- DC4: MS Thermal Proteome Profiling (TPP) data analysis/visualisation (Computational, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway)
- DC5: Genome scale network models (Computational, University Vienna, Vienna, Austria)
- DC6: Application of TPP to thermophiles (Experimental, CNRS, Strasbourg, France)
- DC7: MS TPP method development (Experimental, CNRS, Strasbourg, France)
- DC8: Optimisation of cell factories (Experimental, NovoArc, Vienna, Austria)
- DC9: Microfluidics cell separation and MS integration (Experimental, Cellenion, Lyon, France)
- DC10: Optimisation of sample preparation and examination of the thermal response of selected thermophilic organisms (Experimental, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary)
Who is eligible
- The candidate must be in possession of a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in relevant field(s) enabling her/him to enroll in a Doctoral Programme by the recruitment date.
- The candidate must not hold a Doctoral degree by the time of recruitment date (i.e. by the start of the contract). Do not apply if you already hold a doctoral degree.
- The candidate must not have resided or carried her/his main activity (studies, work, etc.) at the country of recruitment for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately prior to the recruitment date.
What is offered
- Full-time employment for a maximum of 3 years (36 months). During this period, the selected candidate must work exclusively on the research training activities under PROHITS. An additional year will be provided for countries with a 4 year doctorate (see individual DC descriptions).
- The candidate will be primarily based at the facilities and in the city/country listed with each DC position.
Deadline: 15 March 2024