Marie Curie Initial Training Network, Department of Proteomics
Tenure: Three years
Employment conditions:
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR), is offering one PhD stipend at the Department of Proteomics. The research projects will be carried out in collaboration with other groups in Europe as part of a Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) and you will have excellent training opportunities. The ITN mobility rules apply; therefore the candidate should not have spent more than 12 months in the last 3 years in Denmark. The position is offered for a period of three years and employment is governed by the Protocol on PhD Research Fellows signed by the Danish Ministry of Finance and AC (the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) on 1 October 2008, enclosure 5. The starting salary for candidates with an MSc degree will be a minimum of DKK 300,174 per year (April 2010 level) plus pension contribution DKK 41,013 with the possibility to negotiate wage. In addition to research activities, the PhD candidate will be expected – over the period of the stipend – to acquire experience in teaching and/or other types of presentations.
Background:
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research has been established at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, to promote basic and applied discovery research on human proteins of medical relevance. The Center comprises a wide range of expertise and resources, from in silico target identification, proteomics, high-throughput protein production and characterisation to chemical biology, disease mechanisms and protein therapeutics.
The research at the Department of Proteomics is headed by Prof. Matthias Mann and three independent group leaders (Dr. Chuna Choudhary, Dr. Michael L. Nielsen, and Prof. Jesper V. Olsen). The department focuses on a number of projects, including kinome-wide understanding of signal transduction networks, the impact of human variation on post-translational modifications and network analysis of diseases, genes, proteins and chemical compounds. By joining the Center you will be part of a young and dynamic team consisting of international researchers. We use cutting-edge mass spectrometric technologies for unbiased identification and quantification of post-translational modifications (such as phosphorylation, acetylation etc.), and develop advanced bioinformatic tools to extract systems-level information from the datasets. We aim at continuously improving our proteomics and bioinformatics platform, hereby allowing for rapid and comprehensive analysis of disease signaling pathways and networks. In addition to a state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facility, the Department of Proteomics is also well equipped for performing functional follow-up studies by molecular biology and cell biology techniques and assays.
Study description:
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR), Department of Proteomics offers one PhD fellowship for appointment by November 2011 or soon thereafter. The PhD fellowship is financially supported by the European Research Council´s Marie Curie Initial Training Networks (ITN) and CPR.
It is a pre-requisite that the PhD candidate is enrolled as a PhD student at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, in accordance to the provision of the Executive Order no. 18 of 14 January 2008 regarding the PhD degree.
Since the project will be conducted in close collaboration with the other partners in the network we are looking for a highly motivated and result-driven PhD student who is prepared to work in Denmark and abroad.
The candidate will primarily focus on:
- Develop and apply a quantitative proteomics screen for unbiased identification and dynamic analysis of ubiquitin-like molecules such as SUMO in response to cellular stressor in cancer cell lines.
- Bioinformatic analysis of the resulting quantitative proteomics data by integrating with protein interaction networks.
- Systematic perturbations to probe and refine these networks.
- Novel techniques will be developed for elucidating the cause of observed modifications, and further functional validation of the identified substrates in human diseases.
You can read more about planned projects at CPR on www.cpr.ku.dk/groups/proteomics/
Qualifications:
- Candidates are required to have a master´s degree in biochemistry or human biology.
- Strong motivation and excellent scientific skills are essential.
- Prior experience in biochemistry, mammalian cell culture and protein chemistry techniques are required.
- Knowledge in ubiquitin signaling networks or similar cellular pathways and cell biology, cell signaling, and cancer biology would be considered a distinct advantage.
- Good communication skills, both oral and written.
- An analytical aptitude of devising innovative scientific or technical solutions.
- Demonstrate enthusiasm, motivation, flexibility and confidence.
- Prior experience in mass-spectrometry is not necessary but experience with e.g. SILAC is desirable.
For further information, please contact Proteomics Group Leader Jesper V. Olsen by email jesper.olsen@cpr.ku.dk.
Your application marked “211-00097/11-3850 PhD stipend, Proteomics” including a CV as well as names and contact details of referees must be sent to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research before 30 September 2011. Your application in two hard copies should be sent by mail to: Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, att: Mette Efland, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3b, DK-2200 Copenhagen N.
We encourage all interested candidates irrespective of age, gender and ethnic background to apply for the position.