Umeå University, Medicinska fakulteten

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.

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The Faculty of Medicine, which consists of 13 departments, is responsible for biomedical research and courses in the field of nursing and health care and has an extensive research and graduate education in more than 80 subjects.

Project description

The Department of Medical Chemistry and Biophysics is looking for a postdoctoral fellow for 2 years to study the composition of the Mediator Complex in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to various types of stress. The research group is part of the Chemical Biological Center (www.kbc.umu.se) and is affiliated to the Umeå Plant Science Center (www.upsc.se); two stimulating research environments at Umeå University. We are looking for a motivated candidate to do research within the project "Evolutionarily conserved mechanisms for stress that converge on Mediator and chromatin structure" funded by the Foundation for Strategic Research.

Mediator is an evolutionarily preserved multiprotein complex that is essential for transcriptional regulation and plays an important role in the acclimatization of plants to stress. Mediator integrates external signals from different receptors and signal transduction pathways, by transmitting signals from promoter-bound transcription factors to RNA polymerase II (Pol II), leading to a balanced transcriptional stress response. Mediator is also involved in structural changes in chromatin structure. Several aspects of the function of the Mediator are still unknown, in particular questions about how specific Mediator subunits integrate different signaling pathways and how they transmit these signals to Pol II to regulate the expression of specific target genes. To understand the regulatory mechanisms of Mediator and to define plant stress response at several organizational levels, we will construct a holistic model of plant stress response to generate a dynamic and overall model of the signaling networks that control plant stress response.

The postdoctoral project is part of a larger interdisciplinary project, "Evolutionarily preserved mechanisms for stress that converge on Mediator and chromatin structure”. The project provides the opportunity for a challenging postdoctoral training where you will solve problems by using methods from biology and physics, use advanced technical platforms in the environment and by conducting research with other scientists and students in a dynamic and multidisciplinary environment.

The general composition of Mediator is relatively well evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotic cells, from yeast to humans. However, it is still unclear whether its composition is static or whether modules and individual subunits are rearranged in response to different types of stress. The candidate will use a combination of biochemical and structural methods to investigate whether the composition and function of Mediator in Arabidopsis thaliana changes in response to stress signaling.


Tasks

The tasks include:

·       Generation of Arabidopsis thaliana cell lines expressing epitope-tagged versions of various mediator subunits.

·       Generation of Arabidopsis thaliana cell lines lacking various mediator subunits.

·       Biochemical purification of the mediator complex from the above cell lines after application of different types of stress.

·       Structural determination of the mediator complex purified from the above cell lines after application of different types of stress using cryo-electron microscopy.
 

Qualifications

The candidate must have a doctoral degree or equivalent in biochemistry or a related discipline. Eligible to be employed as a postdoctoral fellow is a person who has completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree that corresponds to a doctoral degree. The degree should not be older than three years before the end of the application period. If there are special reasons, a candidate may be considered even if the doctoral degree is older than three years.

We are looking for highly motivated applicants with experience working with Arabidopsis thaliana. The applicant must also have documented experience of generating and characterizing different types of arabidopsis mutants, extensive laboratory experience using molecular and biochemical methods, of different types of biochemical purification of proteins, of work with abiotic and / or biotic stress in arabidopsis. Experience of purifying large protein complexes is an advantage. Previous experience of working with cryo-EM is an advantage.

The applicant must also have the ability to do research independently as well as in groups. Good knowledge of the English language is important.

Application

The application must contain:

·       A letter describing your scientific background (max. An A4 page),

·       A CV with a complete list of publications,

·       Copies of relevant diplomas,

·       Names and contact details of at least two reference persons.

The application must be received via our e-recruitment system Varbi at the latest on 27th of June 2021. We welcome your application!

Terms

The employment is full-time and limited in time to 24 months. Access from Oktober 1st 2021, or by agreement.

Information

For further information about this project, please contact Stefan Björklund at stefan.bjorklund@umu.se.

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment By agreement
Salary Monthly
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100%
City Umeå
County Västerbottens län
Country Sweden
Reference number AN 2.2.1-836-21
Contact
  • Stefan Björklund, +4670-216 28 90
Union representative
  • SACO, 090-786 53 65
  • SEKO, 090-786 52 96
  • ST, 090-786 54 31
Published 20.May.2021
Last application date 27.Jun.2021 11:59 PM CEST

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