Postdoctoral studies in Viral Proteomics (scholarship)

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research? 

The Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC) at Karolinska Institutet conducts research and teaching within immunology, infection biology, cell biology and cancer. Our key words are multidisciplinary, bridging, national and international collaborations.

The Division of Virology and Immunology at MTC comprises ten research groups working on aspects of molecular virology, viral immunity, T- and B-cell biology and vaccine responses to complex antigens. We share a well-equipped laboratory space in the Biomedicum building with access to state-of-the-art microscopy, flow cytometry and protein science facilities and to a well-equipped BSL3 laboratory.

A postdoctoral position is available in Prof Gerald McInerney’s research group. The laboratory focuses on the cell biology of virus infection, with a particular interest in alphaviruses, including chikungunya virus. We have a wide network of collaboration partners in virology, immunology, vaccinology, structural biology and biophysics, computational biology, and other fields of interest. Some recent publications from the group: Götte et al., PLoS Pathogens 2019; Hanke et al., Nature Comms 2020 and 2022; Long et al., Nature Comms 2024. Further information can be found at our website www.alphavirus.org.

Duties

The successful candidate will apply and develop mass spectrometry-based methods to uncover novel protein-protein interactions of importance in virus infections and in infection-related cellular conditions. Analyses will be performed on a Bruker timsTOF Pro 2 LC-MS System, partially owned by the group. The candidate will also work with other members of the research group to apply MS methods for other ongoing and future projects. The candidate will be co-mentored by Assistant Professor Andrea Fossati (MTC)(https://fossatilab.app/).

The work will be presented in prominent academic journals and at international conferences. The successful candidate will contribute to the day-to-day supervision and training of project students and junior staff. The candidate will be encouraged to apply for external financial support, thus expanding the contract time beyond the 2 years and offering a platform for career development.

Entry requirements

Postdoctoral scholarships may be established for foreign researchers who pursue their merit in Sweden. A foreign researcher is a person living in another country who comes to Sweden with the intention of only staying in Sweden for all or part of their postdoctoral education at KI. Persons who are resident in Sweden and/or have carried out all or part of their academic education at KI or some other educational institution in Sweden cannot be considered for scholarships. The purpose of scholarships for postdoctoral qualification is to promote internationalization and contribute to research qualification after a doctorate or equivalent.

A scholarship for carrying out postdoctoral research can be granted for a maximum of two years within a four-year period following the receipt of a doctoral degree or equivalent.

To be eligible for a postdoctoral scholarship, the person must have obtained a doctorate, or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctorate. Applicants who have not completed a doctorate at the end of the application period may also apply, provided that all requirements for a completed degree are met before the (intended) start date of the post-doctoral education.

In addition to the aforementioned requirements for the position:

• Have or will soon obtain a PhD or equivalent degree in a project focusing on proteomics in cell biology, virology or another relevant field
• Hands-on experience with MS sample preparation for label-free acquisition
• Strong knowledge of various data untargeted proteomics acquisition schemes (DIA, DDA)
• Experience in the analysis of MS datasets using available tools for both DDA (Fragpipe, MaxQuant, etc) and DIA (DIA-NN, Spectronaut, EncyclopeDIA, etc)
• Experience with scientific computing using Python or R
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in teams
• Good communication skills in spoken and written English
• Ability to work creatively and independently

Meritorious for the position:

• Interest in laboratory supervision of MSc and PhD students as well as formal undergraduate teaching activities
• A track record of publications in high quality peer-reviewed academic journals
• Hands-on experience on Bruker TimsTOF systems and ion mobility MS
• Experience with targeted proteomics (SRM/PRM/MRM/PRM-PASEF) and analysis of targeted proteomics using Skyline
• Interactomics (AP-MS/ Proximity labelling/co-fractionation MS) experience is a plus but not required
• Working knowledge of thermal proteome profiling/CETSA and analysis of thermal proteomics datasets
• Previous experience working with large reference databases (STRING, KEGG, ENSAMBLE, etc)

What do we offer?

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Here, we conduct innovative medical research and provide the largest range of biomedical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Students and employees have free access to our modern gym facilities with trained staff on site.

Location: Solna

Type of scholarship

The amount is tax free and it is set for twelve months at a time, paid out on a six months basis. In exceptional cases, shorter periods may be acceptable.

Application process

An application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish:

• A complete curriculum vitae, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (no more than one page)

The application is to be submitted on the Varbi recruitment system.

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