10 PhD Positions in the EU Horizon 2020 MSCA-ITN project RNAct (Ref. RNAct-ESRs)

The European Training Network RNAct (“Enabling proteins with RNA recognition motifs for synthetic biology and bio-analytics”) offers 10 doctoral thesis fellowships for enthusiastic Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs). RNAct is an international, integrated research and doctorate programme funded by the European Union in the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Action.

The RNAct consortium consists of seven high-profile research and industry institutions working towards the design of proteins with RNA-recognition motifs to be used in synthetic biology and bioanalysis. We are looking for candidates willing to embark on a PhD degree in the areas of structural bioinformatics, structural biology using NMR and crystallography, synthetic biology and bioanalytics for 36 months. The offered positions will be based in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, and involve short secondments at selected beneficiary host institutions to provide ESRs with complementary research skills and a cross-disciplinary curriculum.

Eligible applicants must hold a Master’s Degree of Science (MSc) in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, physical, life sciences or computational sciences; MSc degrees in alternative relevant fields may be considered. They must not have stayed in the country of the host institution for more than one year during the last three years, and be in the first four years (full-time equivalent) of their research careers. Do not apply if you already hold a Ph.D.

The successful candidates will be appointed in Spring 2019; the expected starting date is 1st September 2019. The deadline for applications is 31st March 2019.

ESR Project 1: Predicting biophysical characteristics of proteins from their amino acid sequence (Computational, VUB, Brussels, Belgium)

ESR Project 2: Improving the in-silico structure representation of proteins (Computational, VUB, Brussels, Belgium)

ESR Project 3: Collect, integrate and analyse RRM data (Computational, CNRS, Nancy, France)

ESR Project 4: Improve methods to dock RNA with proteins (Computational, CNRS, Nancy, France)

ESR Project 5: Structure calculation and computational design of RRMs (Computational/Experimental, HMGU, Munich, Germany)

ESR Project 6: Structural biology (NMR, X-ray crystallography) and biophysical techniques of designed RRMs (Experimental, HMGU, Munich, Germany)

ESR Project 7: Analyse RRM dynamics via structural biology (NMR) and biophysical techniques (Experimental, Giotto Biotech, Florence, Italy)

ESR Project 8: Integrate RRMs in prokaryotes to create new pathways in synthetic biology (Experimental, CSIC, Valencia, Spain)

ESR Project 9: Create biochips to study RRM/RNA interactions. (Experimental, Dynamic Biosensors, Munich, Germany)

ESR Project 10: Deploy RRMs for in-cell analytics (Experimental, Ridgeview Instruments, Uppsala, Sweden)

For further information on the offered positions, please visit http://rnact.eu or contact info@rnact.eu.

Applications must be submitted online at https://tinyurl.com/rnact-eu.