We are seeking to appoint a post-doctoral research assistant in enzymology to work on the characterisation and engineering of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and modification of peptide antimicrobials. The position is available in Dr Clarissa Czekster’s lab at the School of Biology/Biomedical Sciences Research Complex (BSRC) at the University of St Andrews. The post is for 59 months, funded by the Wellcome Trust.
The successful candidate will be a creative, well-motivated and ambitious scientist who has completed (or is about to complete) his/her PhD in Biochemistry or related fields, and will have a track record in cloning, expression and purification of recombinant proteins, enzyme kinetics, and tRNA biochemistry. Experience in x-ray crystallography, tRNA production, mass spectrometry and chemical biology techniques are desirable. She/he will have all the essential skills and several of the desirable skills, evidenced by a strong publication record, recommendation letters and interview. The successful candidate will have strong motivation, initiative, and aspiration to set up new techniques, interact with and mentor students.
The appointee will join the BSRC, a highly collaborative environment that brings together scientists from Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Medicine. It offers state-of-the-art infrastructure for enzymology and structural biology: instrumentation for protein expression and purification; dedicated radiation rooms for manipulation of radiolabelled substrates; phosphorimager for radioactivity assays; spectrophotometers, stopped-flow spectrofluorometer, and a quenched-flow for enzyme kinetics; microcalorimeters and CD spectrometers for thermodynamics; surface-plasmon resonance for ligand screening; 2 computer clusters with 292 cores and university-wide software licenses for computational chemistry; several NMR and MS spectrometers; and a full crystallography suite including incubators with UV/VIS light imager for 600 plates nL-scale crystallization trials and 007HF rotating anode X-ray generator outfitted with cryostream and Saturn 944+ CCD detectors for crystal diffraction, and access to Diamond Light Source. There is also a large critical mass in enzymology, structural biology, medicinal chemistry, and microbiology within the BSRC, with 12 groups working in those areas.
Informal inquiries are encouraged and can be sent to Dr Clarissa Czekster (cmc27@st-andrews.ac.uk).
Applications are particularly welcome from women, who are under-represented in Research posts at the University.
The University is committed to equality for all, demonstrated through our working on diversity awards (ECU Athena SWAN/Race Charters; Carer Positive; LGBT Charter; and Stonewall). More details can be found at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/diversityawards/.
Interview Date: 30 April to 2 May 2018
Please quote ref: AR2058SB
Closing Date: 20 April 2018
Further Particulars: AR2058SB FPs.doc
School of Biology
Salary: £32,548 - £38,833 per annum
Start: 1 July 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter
Fixed term for 59 months