PhD Research Fellowship in Structural Biology 2019, University of Oslo, Norway

The PhD project will be in the field of structural biology on a project entitled "Shikimate pathway enzymes – Mechanism, function and drug discovery". The project is concerned with functional investigations, directed evolution and drug design, and further aims to answer fundamental mechanistic questions about enzyme catalysis. Important methods to be applied are protein crystallography, molecular modeling, and quantitative binding studies.

The project will be in close collaboration with Peter Kast’s research group at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, that has a strong expertise in protein biochemistry and enzyme kinetics, directed evolution and microbiology. It is anticipated that the project will include a research stay of 1-3 months at the ETH Zurich.

The successful candidate will recombinantly produce and purify shikimate pathway enzymes and subject them to crystallization experiments. Candidates will further be trained in computational structural chemistry by Michele Cascella (Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo) and use state-of-the-art computational techniques to investigate at the atomistic level the molecular mechanisms driving the enzymatic activity.

Since this project is clearly interdisciplinary, it will be suited for candidates from various disciplines, who are motivated to learn new skills. It is important that the candidate is qualified for experimental work in the laboratory, but also interested in theoretical questions. Additional experience in organic synthesis would be beneficial. The candidate should further be confident working on her/his own, and in addition be a good team player.

This work is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation and builds on previous research described e.g. in Sasso et al. 2009, EMBO J 28, 2128-42, Munack et al. 2016, J. Mol. Biol. 428, 1237-55 and Burschowsky et al. 2018, Biochemistry 57, 557-73. Our laboratories are state-of-the-art.

The position will be associated to the National Norwegian PhD School in Biocatalysis, BioCat.

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences is a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

• Master’s degree or equivalent in biochemistry, molecular biology, chemistry, or other relevant disciplines and include a thesis of at least 30 ECTS
• Foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) corresponding to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system
• Candidates without a Master’s degree have to complete the final exam before their starting date

Grade requirement

The norm is as follows:

• the average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• the average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• the Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• fluent oral and written communication skills in English evt. and a Scandinavian language 

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.