Postdoctoral position (2 years) – Mechanisms of Autophagy - Befattningen är under tillsättning eller redan tillsatt, och det är inte längre möjligt att lämna in en ansökan

The Department of Chemistry is now seeking a postdoc within the project about the mechanisms of autophagy. The employment is full-time and limited to two years.

Project description and working tasks
One of the main interests of the research group is a system that has been evaluated at the molecular and cellular level with a range of chemical, molecular and cell biological techniques concerning mechanism of autophagy. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved self-eating process with main function to eliminate or recycle dysfunctional cellular organelles or unused proteins. Autophagy plays an important role in physiology including development and ageing and has been associated with diverse human diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, cardiac hypertrophy, and pathogen infection. Autophagy modulation is implicated in the treatment of diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer. Despite extensive work, the models of autophagosome formation and autophagy regulation are not yet well established. Using a combination of cell biology, structural biology and chemical genetic approaches, we have elucidated fundamental mechanisms underlying autophagosome formation. Our laboratory has elaborated a novel mode of action for virulent bacteria (Legionella) against host autophagy using semisynthetic LC3 proteins. We have identified novel chemotypes for autophagy modulation and new cellular targets involved in new mechanism of autophagy regulation. This project will combine cell biological, biochemical, and novel chemical and chemo-optogenetic approaches to understand the mechanism of autophagic membrane morphogenesis. The postdoctoral researcher will work on cell imaging, western blotting, knock-out/down, analysis of cellular phenotypes, protein expression and purification, and/or biochemical and structural characterization.

The project is funded by European Research Council (ERC) and Wallenberg Foundation. The project is interdisciplinary with strong collaborations across scientific disciplines. The employment is full-time for a period of two years with start immediately or at a date decided in agreement between the two parties.

Qualifications
The required qualification is a doctoral degree or a foreign degree that is deemed equivalent, in cell biology, biochemistry, structural biology, or in another relevant field. To be eligible the degree should have been completed a maximum of three years before the end of the application period unless certain circumstances exist. The successful candidate is expected to design and execute projects independently but also in close collaboration with other members of the team, independence and good ability to collaborate is therefore a requirement. Good command of written and spoken English is also a requirement. Experiences in cell imaging, western blotting, siRNA, CRISPR-Cas, protein expression and purification, and/or X-ray crystallography are strong merits. Good research publications within these areas are strong merits.

Application
Candidates should submit:

• cover letter including relevant research interests and qualifications and a motivation for applying (max 2 pages),
• CV including list of publications,
• copies of doctoral degree certificate and other relevant degree certificates or equivalent,
• own publications that you wish to submit (maximum 3 publications),
• names and contact details of at least two reference persons,
• Other documents you wish to claim.

The application should be written in English or Swedish. Applications must be submitted via our e-recruitment system. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format. Log on and apply via the button at the bottom of the page. Last day to apply is December 13, 2018.

For further information, please contact Professor Yaowen Wu, E-mail: yaowen.wu@umu.se. Website: http://www.chemistry.umu.se/english/research/group-leaders/yaowen-wu/

We look forward to receiving your application!

The Department of Chemistry is employing around 200 people. The Department is located within the cross-disciplinary Chemical Biological Centre (www.kbc.umu.se/english/) at Umeå University and provides excellent facilities and state-of-art equipment and platforms in a creative, inspiring, international and highly interactive environment. Facilities include Protein Expertise Platform, X-ray, Proteomics, NMR (850-400 MHz), Cryo-EM and Biochemical Imaging Centre (confocal, FLIM, spinning disk). The recent breakthrough researches from UmU include deciphering the molecular mechanisms of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 system and repurposing it into a tool for genome editing. For more information about working at Umeå University, https://www.umu.se/en/work-with-us/.