Postdoctoral position within the Center of Excellence for Chemical Mechanisms of Life at Uppsala University

Postdoctoral position within the Center of Excellence for Chemical Mechanisms of Life at Uppsala University

Are you interested in working with RNA regulation, viral, ribosomal or microRNAs?
We are a supportive, friendly and competent team in an international environment searching for new colleagues. Are you interested in using and developing state-of-the-art methods in biophysics and structural biology (e.g. RNA probing & SHAPE, or NMR) and/or are competent in computational approaches (bioinformatics/machine learning). Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employee ship and offers safe, favorable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a postdoctoral position at Uppsala University.

The research at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology (IMBIM) at Uppsala University broadly spans the areas of biochemistry, biophysics, cell and molecular biology, tumour biology, comparative genetics, functional genomics, immunology, bacteriology, and virology. The department is hosted at the Biomedical Center (BMC), containing strong environments in spectroscopy, biophysics, structural biology, analytical and organic chemistry.

The Chemical Mechanisms of Life is a new Center of Excellence (https://www.uu.se/en/research/strong-research-environments/centres-of-excellence/centre-for-chemical-mechanisms-of-life), funded by the Swedish Research Council. It is located at the Departments of Chemistry - BMC and Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology at Uppsala University. The Center is driven by four research leaders (Lanekoff, Erdelyi, Petzold, Westenhoff) and is expected to expand into a large consortium through incoming research visits, interdisciplinary interactions, summer/winter schools, seminar series, teaching activities, and more. The overarching goal of the Chemical Mechanisms of Life Center is to provide an in-depth view of the chemical mechanisms that are important to sustain life by fostering interaction between commonly defined disciplines.

We are now announcing a position that is focused on RNA dynamics analysis by NMR, RNA probing and other biophysical methods. The postdoc is expected to work within the Petzold group (https://www.uu.se/institution/medicinsk-biokemi-och-mikrobiologi/forskning/petzold-katja or https://petzoldlab.com) on collaborative research projects across the Center. Successful candidates have a background in Biochemistry/Biophysics-related areas, NMR, RNA probing or computational approaches. In addition to working in a highly interdisciplinary setting and within the research group, the candidate will have the opportunity to influence the undertaken interdisciplinary projects within the center.

Duties
The successful candidate will perform high-quality research. They will also develop the Center by acting as a link between the groups and being involved in activities, such as kick-off meetings and seminar series, together with the research coordinator of the center. The candidate will use high-end methodologies and instrumentation, and work collaboratively with the goal to pinpoint the chemical mechanisms of life. As a postdoctoral researcher, they will collaborate with PhD students, students, and researchers in the groups and the center in an interdisciplinary setting, in addition to writing publications and grant applications. They will also be involved in outreach activities.

Requirements
Ph.D. degree in natural or technical sciences or a foreign degree equivalent to such Ph.D. degree. The degree needs to be obtained by the start of the employment. Those who have obtained a PhD degree three years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point of the three-year frame period is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc. The successful candidate has experience with e.g. RNA biophysics, biochemistry, including NMR.

Great emphasis will be placed on personal qualities such as good collaborative skills, motivation and independence, as well as how the applicant through his/her experience and competence is judged to have the abilities necessary to develop within the project.

Additional qualifications
Experience of RNA sample preparation, cell handling, data handling, statistics, programming, pathway analysis and scientific writing will be seen as merits. Scores from IELTS or TOEFL are desirable but not mandatory at the time of applying.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement. Full time position. Starting date 2026-03-01 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Professor Katja Petzold, Katja.petzold@imbim.uu,se, administrative questions: saskia.rughoft@kemi.uu.se

Please submit your application by February 23nd 2026, UFV-PA 2026/292.