Two-Year Postdoc Position in Molecular Biology or Chemical Biology/ Medicinal Chemistry

Registration website

The Department of Forensic Medicine at Faculty of Health at Aarhus University invites applications for a two-year postdoctoral position in the field of cell-based chemical genetic screening at the Bioanalytical Unit. The position is fixed-term full-time position with an intended start date 1 November 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Department of Forensic Medicine and the Bioanalytical Unit

The department employs 70 employees, of which 35 have an academic background, while 10 are tenured academic staff. Our mission is to contribute to the prevention of crime, accidents, premature deaths and suicides through research, education and forensic investigations. The department comprises of two sections providing commissioned work for the Danish National Police as well as basic research. The Section of Forensic Chemistry conducts quantitative and screening analysis for illegal and legal drugs and their metabolites in human biological samples as well as non-biological samples (police seizures). The section moreover houses the Bioanalytical Unit, which focus on research and development within basic and applied science related to human health.The section and unit has a well-developed infrastructure with modern bioanalytical laboratories equipped with a range of advanced LC-MS instruments, as well as new facilities for conducting cell and molecular biology based studies. The department is situated in conjunction with the Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus N. You can read more about the department here and about the faculty here.

About the research project.

Lipid metabolism is tightly connected to biological aging and aging-related diseases as obesity, NAFLD and several neurological diseases. We will in this project perform chemical genetic screens using annotated small-molecule libraries as well as positional-scanning libraries to discover novel targets as well as small molecules regulating lipid metabolism in hepatocytes and stably transfected HEK293 cells. The project will be carried out in collaboration with experts in molecular modeling as well as in positional-scanning libraries that will assists in optimizing novel discovered lead compounds.

Your job responsibilities

As postdoc your position is primarily research-based but may also involve teaching assignments. Your main tasks will consist of independent research of high international quality, this includes:

• Implementation of new Opentron Screening platform for cell-based screenings.
• Perform medium through-put screenings of small-molecule regulators of cAMP and lipid metabolism in hepatocytes and HEK293 cells.
• Depending on your background, the project furthermore may entail work on novel GPCR agonist based on scaffold-hopping (medicinal chemist), as well as setup of further cell-based functional assays and potential involvement in preclinical studies (molecular biologist/ medicinal chemist).

You will spear-head the project, however we have prior experience with most of the techniques used in the studies including cell-based screening using a first generation Opentron platform.


Your competences

You have academic qualifications at PhD level, preferably within medicinal chemistry or molecular biology or equivalent. Experience with cell-based assays, programming and laboratory automation, as well as medicinal chemistry will be an advantage.

You should have solid analytical thinking, creativity, and preferably a visible publication record. We offer an interdisciplinary, ambitious, and supportive environment for a young scientist, and a good platform for a future career in academia or the private sector.

As a person, you are ambitious, take ownership and possess good communication and interpersonal skills. We expect you to be fluent in oral and written English. In order to be assessed as qualified for a Postdoc position, you must meet these academic criteria. Shortlisting will be used.

Questions about the position

If you have any questions about the position, please contact professor Mogens Johannsen, e-mail: [email protected], tel.: (+45) 87168332.

Your place of work will be the Department of Forensic Medicine, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 99, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.

Terms of employment

• Appointment as a postdoc requires academic qualifications at PhD level.
• Further information on the appointment procedure can be found in the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
• The appointment is in accordance with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne).
• Remuneration is in accordance with the above, and the Salary agreement catalogue for staff at Health.
• The yearly base salary for a fulltime postdoc position with minimum 3 years of working experience after achieved MSc degree is DKK 486,969.17 or DKK 512,713.62 with minimum 4 years of working experience after achieved MSc degree. The base salary includes a position related supplement and pension (17.1 %). Additional supplement(s) for special qualifications can be negotiated. Authorisation supplemement(s) will be granted, if relevant for the position. Your local eligible trade union representative at Aarhus University negotiates your salary on your behalf.
• Researchers recruited from abroad are offered a special researcher tax scheme with a lower tax rate.
• Further information on qualification requirements and job description can be found in the.Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff

Application

Your application must include the following:

• Motivated application
• Curriculum Vitae
• Diploma
• A list of publications
• A teaching portfolio. We refer to Guideline on the use of teaching portfolios
• A maximum of five of the publications of greatest relevance to the job may be submitted
• Template for applicant – postdoc must be completed and uploaded under ‘Extra documents’
• Strategic research plan can be uploaded
• Coauthor statement(s) can be uploaded
• References/recommendations can be uploaded separately in the e-recruitment system

We refer to the faculty’s Guidelines for applicants.

The assessment committee may decide to include non-submitted material in its statement. In such cases, you will be informed and obliged to submit material, unless your application is withdrawn.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Letter of reference

If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.

International applicant?

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here. Aarhus University also has a Junior Researcher Development Programme. You can read more about it here.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Deadline: 2021-10-02 at 23:59
Unit: Department of Forensic Medicine
Email: mailto:[email protected]
Phone: +4587168332

Read the job description at the university homepage or Apply.

Post expires on Saturday October 2nd, 2021