Research assistant

Research assistant

Are you interested in working with machine learning, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a research assistant position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Cell and Molecular Biology is organized into seven research programmes which all focus on different areas of cell and molecular biology: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular Biology, Molecular Biophysics, Molecular Evolution, Molecular Systems Biology and Structural Biology. The scientific basis of what we do lies in biology, but our research overlaps with other areas such as medicine, computer science, mathematics, chemistry, engineering sciences and physics. In total, we are over 200 staff and ~60 Ph.D. students. Please read more about the department’s work at https://www.uu.se/en/department/cell-and-molecular-biology. 

Duties

The candidate will work on a project aimed to elucidate the effect of mutations on protein stability, with focus on pathogenic mutations. For this, he/she will contribute to methods development at the interface of machine learning with physics-based approaches. Tasks will include: scientific programming in python, in particular development of the in-house code QresFEP (https://github.com/qusers/qligfep); identification, collection and curation of mutational data for benchmarking and testing the method; running large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) and free energy calculations; analysis of simulations include development of deep learning models to interpret and complement the free energy calculations.

Requirements

The candidate should have a BSc degree on Chemistry with a MSc degree on Pharmaceutical Drug Discovery or equivalent. Experience on molecular simulation techniques including Molecular dynamics and Free Energy simulations, should be demonstrated with publications on the topic. Demonstrated background (i.e. specialization courses or teaching experience) on structural and/or pharmaceutical bioinformatics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, and deep learning. Experience on scientific computing including Unix-based systems, use of supercomputing centres, bash/shell scripting and scientific python programming. Fluent English both spoken and written, and ability to work independently as well as interpersonal characteristics compatible with being a team player.  

Additional qualifications 

Teaching experience with emphasis on student supervision of independent projects or research training credits, as well as familiarity with deep learning methods on biochemical or biophysical investigations are considered an advantage.

About the employment 

The employment is a temporary position, 3,5 months. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 2025-09-13 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Professor Johan Åqvist (+46 18 471 41 09, johan.aqvist@icm.uu.se).

Please submit your application by August 28th 2025, UFV-PA 2025/2437.

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