PhD Position in Computational Biochemistry - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Chemistry – BMC is located at the Uppsala Biomedical Centre campus. It belongs to the Faculty of Science and Technology and conducts research in biochemistry, organic chemistry and analytical chemistry. The research is focused on catalysis, molecular recognition, structure and dynamics of complex molecular systems, and relationships between the presence of biomolecules and synthetic chemical compounds with various disease states. The creative and research- intense environment contributes to a broad knowledge - base as well as cutting - edge expertise.

You can find more information about us here

We are looking for one graduate student in Chemistry with specialization in Biochemistry

The Kamerlin group seeks a doctoral student to join our team. We are an international and interdisciplinary team of dedicated scientists who come from different backgrounds to study biochemical problems such as enzyme evolution, and structure-function-dynamics relationships in biomolecular systems, as well as fundamental problems in physical organic chemistry, using a range of advanced computational tools. Where relevant to solving problems of interest to us, we also engage in methodology development. The focus of the work will be on using computational tools to understand and guide the evolution of new enzyme functions, as well as the role of ligand-gated conformational changes in enzyme catalysis. More details about our team, and our research interests, can be found on the lab website: http://www.kamerlinlab.com. 

Appointment period
The PhD position is for four years, extendable to a maximum of five years by including department duties at a level of at most 20%, typically teaching. The time for employment can be prolonged if special reasons exist.

Nature of duties
As a PhD student in our team you will perform graduate studies within the subject and is expected to carry out advanced research in biochemistry and to broaden your perspective and knowledge of biochemistry by taking relevant graduate courses.

Rules governing PhD candidates are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and regulations.

PhD students with employment in our department are normally expected to teach and participate in general departmental work, such as instrument maintenance, to a level corresponding to a maximum of 20% of the employment time.

You can read more about how it is to be a postgraduate student with us here.

Qualifications 
To qualify for a PhD position, you must have at least 240 credits (hp), or an equivalent basic university education, with at least 60 credits at the advanced level and with at least 90 credits in chemistry relevant subjects. For a PhD education in biochemistry the requirements are at least 45 credits in biochemistry, of which 15 credits should be thesis work.

It is desired that you have a science Master’s degree in biochemistry, or similar experience. Strong knowledge in computational chemistry/physics/biology is considered a merit.

To be employed as a PhD student, you must be accepted in the postgraduate program. Information concerning doctoral education, requirements and rules of admission can be found here and the study plan for postgraduate studies in biochemistry can be found here.

We place great emphasis on your personal qualifications. You need to have a strong motivation for the research project and to be able to contribute with creative ideas. This project requires that you are able to work independently, but that you also have excellent collaborative skills as the project will occasionally require that you are able to collaborate with scientists from other universities. You also need good language skills in English in order to be able to interact, write and publish internationally. Levels corresponding to IELTS: overall mark of 6.5 and no section below 5.5; TOEFL: Paper-based: Score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test and a total score of 575, internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test and a total score of 90; Cambridge: CAE, CPE are acceptable.

It is important for us to keep our lab and instruments clean and organized. Accordingly, you must be very organized in your work and ready to contribute actively to a pleasant and productive work environment.

Criteria for ranking
The ranking of applicants will be based on undergraduate grades, on the undergraduate education profile and on any additional experience of research in areas of relevance for the research project. Such additional experience should be documented and included in your application, e.g. through articles published in international peer-reviewed journals or by employment at companies or other institutions active in the field of research. High emphasis will also be put on personal qualifications required for the project.

In filling this position, we aim to recruit the person who, in a combined evaluation of competence, skills and documented qualifications, are judged most suitable to carry out and develop the project-in-hand and to contribute to a positive development of the department of chemistry. Interviews will be performed with the top candidates through visits to us or by electronic means.

Your application
Your application must include a personal letter with a short description of yourself and the reasons why you are interested in the position. You must also include a CV, authorized copies of degrees and diplomas, copies of your bachelor or master thesis and other documents, such as publications, that you want to provide. Names and contact details of at least two scientists that have offered to act as references for you must also be included, with a clear indication of their relationship to you.

Rules governing Ph.D. candidates are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, §§ 1-7 .

Uppsala University strives to be an inclusive workplace that promotes equal opportunities and attracts qualified candidates who can contribute to the University’s excellence and diversity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and from people of all backgrounds.

Salary: According to local agreement for PhD students and teaching assistants.
 
Starting date: According to agreement, temporary position four years with up to 20% prolongation.

Type of position: Full time position.

For further information about the position please contact Lynn Kamerlin (lynn.kamerlin@kemi.uu.se, +46 18 471 4423).

You are welcome to submit your application no later than 2019-03-25, UFV-PA 2019/672.