PhD Candidate Development of Chemical Tools towards Improved Protein Quality Control in Neurodegeneration
Do you have a chemistry background and would you like to develop and apply chemical tools in neurodegenerative disorders? And are you interested in being part of a larger national program? Then we would like to meet you!
About your role
We are looking for a PhD candidate that is interested in being part of a larger national program (Nederlandse Wetenschaps Agenda, project CureQ) aimed for a better prediction of disease onset and progression of and developing therapeutic interventions for polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, in particular Huntington’s disease (HD) and spinocerebellar ataxias -1 and -3. These autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorders are caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the disease-related gene, leading to the production of mutant proteins. The garbage collectors of our cells, which clean up these kinds of wrong proteins, do not recognize these proteins because their marking is not correct. As a result, they are not being cleared. This project will focus on the development of chemical tools to identify and manipulate the enzymes involved in quality control to ultimately prevent the formation of toxic aggregates.
About you
• You have obtained your MSc degree in (organic) chemistry or chemical biology (or will do so on very short term);
• You have a keen interest in protein modifications, and experience with, peptide and/or protein chemistry;
• Furthermore, you must be fluent in English, pro-active and performance driven, structured and accurate, and have good communication and writing skills.
• Lastly, you will work in a multidisciplinary, international and academic setting.
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- You will be given an employment contract for the production of a PhD thesis for the duration of the program with a maximum of four years. The salary amounts to € 2,789 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,536 in the last year with fulltime employment (scale Pro, CLA UMC).
- Applications from employment/recruitment agencies will not be considered.
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Postdoctoral funding
We are always interested in supporting grant applications of talented prospective postdoctoral fellows with experience in organic synthesis, coordination chemistry, supramolecular self-assembly, or a related topic. Please contact us if you consider applying for Marie Skłodowska-Curie, NWO-Veni, DAAD, or other suitable fellowships.
