PhD student in Computational Medicinal Chemistry - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Medicinal Chemistry conducts research in the field of drug development, which includes organic synthesis, drug design and pharmaceutical physical and analytical chemistry. The department is responsible for teaching drug-related subjects in several programs, for example in the pharmacist program and the prescription program. The department has about 85 employees and here doctoral students, teachers, researchers and administrators work closely together in a creative and open environment. More information about the department and its teaching is available at www.ilk.uu.se.

Work description / Project description: One proven approach to cure infections is to target essential enzymes in pathogens. However, despite the availability of efficient antimicrobial drugs there are acute global concerns regarding the emergence of extensively drug resistant pathogen strains of bacteria, viruses, and parasites, in addition to novel strains that could cause a next pandemic. The PhD student project will involve development and application of computational methods for antimicrobial compound discovery and design. The focus of the project is within virtual screening, screening compound library design, and enzyme inhibitor design and optimization. The project is interdisciplinary and includes collaboration with preparative medicinal chemists.

Requirements: The project requires that you are highly motivated and both are able to work independently and that you have good collaborative skills. Very good oral and written proficiency in English is needed for scientific publication and interaction in the research group. We place great emphasis on your personal qualifications and an integrated assessment will be generated in order to employ the best possible candidate that can succeed in the graduate studies and contribute to a positive development of the research program.

Merits: Experience in areas of computational medicinal chemistry such as virtual screening, docking, quantum chemistry, and/or pharmacophore analysis is preferred. Experience and proficiency in script programming is preferred as this is an important tool for the research project. 

Admission requirements: To be eligible for doctoral education, a degree at an advanced level or basic higher education equivalent to at least 240 ECTS credits, including at least 60 ECTS credits at second-cycle level, or essentially equivalent competences acquired in some other way in Sweden or abroad, is required. For PhD studies at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy English 6 or the equivalent is required, and that the education is in an area relevant to the subject.

PhD studies are four years studies and is extended by other work duties in teaching and administrative duties of 20% of the fulltime, for a total time of five years. Information concerning doctoral education, requirements and rules of admission can be found in: https://www.medfarm.uu.se/admissions/phd/.

To be employed as a PhD student, the applicant must be accepted in the postgraduate program.

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

Applications should be written in English and should include the following documentation:

• Personal letter with a short description of you and why you are interested in the position, including also a short summary of your experience and expertise in the research area and teamwork (max 2 pages)
• CV, which includes contact information, information about language skills, information about education and past work experiences
• Copy of Master thesis
• Authorized copies of documented education
• Contact information to two persons to act as references

Salary: According to local agreement for PhD students.

Starting date: As soon as possible or as otherwise agreed.

Type of employment: Temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 §§ 1-7.

Scope of employment: 100 %

Further information about the position: Associate Professor Christian Sköld, christian.skold@ilk.uu.se.

Further information about the employment: Head of Department Anders Karlén, anders.karlen@ilk.uu.se.

Please submit your application by 11 June 2021, UFV-PA 2021/2212.