UCL Chemistry Department is offering a fully funded studentship to a highly motivated candidate to start in September 2021. The student will carry out his/her doctoral research at UCL.
An industrial CASE PhD position (over 4 years) is available to work with Prof. Vijay Chudasama (UCL lead), Dr Maximillian Lee (MSD lead), Dr James Baker and MSD more generally to aid in providing significant steps in this direction via the creation of protein-conjugates generated by site-specific protein modification. The student will carry out their doctoral research at UCL and also have the opportunity for work placements at MSD (based at the Francis Crick Institute, London). There is a clear need for Organic Chemists to contribute to the field of Biology through the conduit of Chemical Biology. This project will be based on using core synthetic organic chemistry to deliver entities that will meet the needs of forming the next-generation of protein-based therapeutics. The student will gain valuable research expertise during the course of this project, making them well qualified for future employment in either an academic or industrial setting. This project will provide a thorough training in synthetic organic chemistry and chemical biology, as well as in a series of transferable skills. The student will also be given plenty of opportunity to be creative, and includes a placement at MSD.
The applicants should have, or be expecting to achieve, a first or upper second-class Honours degree or equivalent in Chemistry. We are looking to recruit a highly motivated and ambitious organic chemist with an excellent background in synthetic organic chemistry and an interest in chemical biology. Experience in chemical biology is not a pre-requisite as this project has synthetic organic chemistry at its core and extensive training in chemical biology will be provided. The project will involve various spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as NMR, MS, IR, LC-MS, SDS-PAGE and MALDI-TOF; thus providing the student with excellent training in a variety of techniques.
Interested candidates should initially contact UCL main supervisor Prof. Vijay Chudasama ([Email Address Removed]) with a degree transcript and a motivation letter expressing interest in this project. Informal inquiries are encouraged. Suitable applicants should complete an electronic application form at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/apply. They will be invited for the interview no more than 4 weeks after the application deadline Any admissions queries should be directed to Dr Jadranka Butorac at [Email Address Removed].
Applications will be accepted until 31st March 2021.