Research Assistant in Structural Biology

 




The laboratory of structural biology of macromolecular protein-RNA complexes headed by Dr. Eva Kowalinski at the EMBL Grenoble is seeking a Research Assistant to support current projects in the laboratory. The thriving group uses a multidisciplinary approach to tackle complex biochemical questions by combining state-of-the art cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography, biochemical and biophysical methods, and cell biology. In the group, we believe in growing with our challenges, lifelong learning and team play.

 

Your role

We are seeking to attract a highly motivated and ambitious individual to join our investigations on the structure and function of protein-RNA complexes involved in RNA modification and editing. Ideally, you would be eager to deepen the knowledge in the field of integrated structure biology by contributing to the advancement of well established projects in the lab.

 

You will:

 

  • Clone, express and purify proteins.
  • Produce and purify RNA.
  • Perform protein and RNA quality control and activity assays.
  • Prepare samples for X-ray crystallography or cryo-EM.
  • Comprehensively document work progress and present within the group.

 

Apply now

Closing date: 9 January 2022

You have

You are an enthusiastic curiosity driven scientist with a Bachelor, Master or Technician degree with experience in:

  • Molecular biology methods (PCR, different cloning methods, mutagenesis)
  • Protein expression in E. coli and mammalian cell systems.
  • Protein purification (affinity, ion exchange, size exclusion chromatography, AKTA purification system and associated software)
  • Sterile cell culture techniques
  • Protein analysis (SDS PAGE, UPLC/HPLC, Western blotting, activity assays)

You are a team player with excellent documentation, organisation and communication skills with the ability to work on several projects and conduct experiments in parallel.

You are capable of independent planning and realistic time management.

You are motivated to learn new techniques and methods.

You can write and speak English. 

You might also have

  • Knowledge of biophysical characterization of proteins
  • Experience with RNA manipulation
  • Experience with sample preparation, data collection and data processing in X-ray crystallography and/or cryo-EM
  • Experience with molecular visualisation of proteins (PyMOL, ChimeraX, etc.)
  • Knowledge of French is not required

Why join us

The Kowalinski lab at the EMBL Grenoble is ideally located with access to world-class infrastructure offered by the inter-institutional Partnership for Structural Biology PSB Grenoble (www.psb-grenoble.fr). Access is granted to in-house bacterial, insect and mammalian cell expression facilities, parasite cell culture, confocal microscopy and the high-throughput crystallization facility and all core facilities at the EMBL headquarters. Electron microscopic infrastructure is available: EMBL Grenoble in-house Tecnai T12 and Glacios (200keV, Falcon3) and regular access to the Electron Microscopy Core Facility (EMCF) at EMBL Heidelberg with various high-end microscopes and the ESRF Titan Krios (K2, phase plate). X-ray infrastructure: regular access to ESRF (on campus) and access to other European synchrotrons (DLS, PETRA, SOLEIL).

What else you need to know

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family friendly working environment.

We are Europe’s flagship research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with more than 1600 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Our mission is to offer vital services in training scientists, students and visitors at all levels; to develop new instruments and methods in the life sciences and actively engage in technology transfer activities, and to integrate European life science research.

With the application, please submit your letter of motivation, your CV, and up to two references. The reference letters can as well be submitted directly to kowalinski@embl.fr.

Additional emailing your application is not necessary.

For any additional information please contact Eva Kowalinski directly (kowalinski(at)embl.fr) or visit our website: https://www.embl.org/groups/kowalinski/

Earliest start date: 01/02/22

Please apply online through: www.embl.org/jobs

Research Information Officer ( EMBL Heidelberg, Germany or EMBL-EBI in Hinxton, UK )

 


EMBL is looking for a highly motivated Research Information Officer. Thesis post will be based in the EMBL Office for Scientific Information Management, a new office with responsibility for the EMBL library, open science support, and EMBL archive and records management. This post will be responsible for monitoring EMBL research outputs (publications, data, software) for use in reporting and supporting EMBL staff through the administration of EMBL-wide processes and services related to publishing, Open Science and Open Access.

Your role

The Research Information Officer will have particular responsibility for operating Open Access publication workflows. As part of the OSIM team, the RIOs will promote and monitor compliance with EMBL’s open science policy, sharing information as required with colleagues across EMBL. The complex funding landscape at EMBL means that a number of reporting requirements need to be met, including to EMBL member states and to national funding organisations. While the emphasis is currently on publications, we expect monitoring a wider range of research outputs will become more important in the future. Moreover, the Research Information Officer will be responsible for the management of article processing charges (APC), advice and promotion on ORCID and guidance on data management plans (DMP) for researchers across all six EMBL sites. 

Together with the Open Science Officer, this role will form a hub for expertise on open science best practices at EMBL. Close collaboration with others in the OSIM team, as well as pan-EMBL networking will be required to deliver support, advice and services around Open Access and Open Science related topics for EMBL researchers and management. 

As OSIM is a new office at EMBL, the role will require a flexible but structured approach and teamwork to deliver new services that will support EMBL staff to make research outputs such as publications, data, software open at the optimal time of the research lifecycle. EMBL has a unique context to deliver open science best practices in the life sciences as, in addition to performing research, EMBL runs major science facilities at several of its sites, and hosts major community databases at EMBL-EBI, including, for example, the European Nucleotide Archive and Europe PMC. 

Duties and responsibilities:
  • Operation of EMBL’s research information management systems, in particular, management of publications and related data with tools such as ORCID, Europe PMC and Converis
  • Develop and implement workflows and procedures to create, store, manage, report and present research information across all EMBL sites, as required
  • Administer publication workflows for researchers across all six EMBL sites such as the management of article processing charges
  • Manage the input and quality control of metadata around EMBL research outputs
  • Provide consultation, expertise and training for EMBL staff on Open Access publishing
  • Provide information on EMBL publications and create reports, as required, for EMBL impact analysis and reporting
  • Monitor compliance with EMBL open science policies and support compliance with national funder policies 
  • Coordinate with colleagues in the OSIM to deliver on projects that span across skill sets, for example, the development of data management plan development processes.
  • Advice and training for EMBL researchers on the handling of research data and software

Apply now

Closing date: 14 January 2022

You have

Qualifications and Experience

  • Degree in information science, librarianship or a related field of study;
  • Experience in a role related to research information management; for example, in a journal publisher, library, database, institutional repository, or funder setting
  • Hands on experience using software and tools required for one or more aspects of research information management (for example, database ingest and/or curation, CRIS systems, helpdesk ticketing systems)
  • Demonstrable broad knowledge of infrastructures, resources and policies pertaining to open science and effective research data management
  • Ability to work independently within a team setting 
  • Working knowledge of English is necessary;

You might also have

  • Good working knowledge of German or another European language is advantageous
  • Knowledge of the science and publishing system, especially in the life sciences, will be considered an advantage.

Why join us

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family friendly working environment. The remuneration package comprises a competitive salary, a comprehensive pension scheme, medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial support for relocation and installation, including your family and the availability of an excellent child care facility on campus.

 

What else you need to know

We are Europe’s flagship research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with more than 1700 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

The Research Information Officer will report to the Head of the Office for Scientific Information Management and can be placed either at EMBL Heidelberg, Germany or EMBL-EBI in Hinxton, UK (please indicate your preference in your application).

Applicants invited for interview will be asked to give a 15 minute presentation that outlines the experience they will bring to this role (5 minutes) and how they will approach the role (10 minutes). Remote interviews are expected to be held in the week beginning 24th January 2022.

Postdoctoral Fellow - Structural biology of Plasmodium falciparum membrane complexes

 


We are seeking for a highly motivated structural biologist with cryo-EM expertise to study membrane complexes of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The research portfolio of the Hamburg Unit is mainly focused on structures of membrane proteins and large protein complexes by diverse structural biology approaches including cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography. You will be affiliated with the research group of Christian Löw at EMBL Hamburg located at the recently established Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) on DESY campus in Hamburg, and work in a close collaborative project with the groups of Jan Kosinski (EMBL Hamburg), Michael Filarsky (University of Hamburg), the cryo-EM Multi-user facility and the protein production team at CSSB. The Löw laboratory is specialized in structural biology of integral membrane proteins and uses innovative approaches to study their structure, function and dynamics.

Your role

You will work in a team of structural and computational biologists at CSSB and investigate endogenous membrane protein complexes in the transmissible gametocyte stages of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. You will design, perform and troubleshoot experiments in an independent manner, and lead your own research project. The work aims at biological discoveries comprising both methodological and applied aspects.

Apply now

Closing date: 16 January 2022

You have

  • A Ph.D. degree in biochemistry, biophysics or structural biology (or a related field)
  • Experience in structure determination of proteins and protein complexes by cryo-EM
  • Working experience in molecular biology and protein biochemistry with a demonstrated record of accomplishments
  • Ability to plan and pursue a research project independently and in a team
  • Willingness to learn new skills as projects require
  • Excellent communication, interpersonal and English language skills

 

You might also have

  • Experience in other structural biology methods (X-ray crystallography, SAXS, NMR, …)
  • Experimental expertise in the field of membrane proteins
  • Familiarity with eukaryotic expression systems

Why join us

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family friendly working environment. The remuneration package comprises a competitive salary, a comprehensive pension scheme, medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial support for relocation and installation, including your family.

Scientists and engineers at the EMBL Hamburg Unit benefit from cutting-edge technology to enable leading research in Structural Biology using on-site synchrotron radiation beamlines operated by EMBL Hamburg and opportunities for collaboration with colleagues from all six EMBL sites.

 

What else you need to know

We are Europe’s flagship research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with approximately 2000 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Our mission is to offer vital services in training scientists, students and visitors at all levels; to develop new instruments and methods in the life sciences and actively engage in technology transfer activities, and to integrate European life science research.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

 

Software Engineer

 


The Protein Function development team is a very dynamic and interdisciplinary team comprising talented and enthusiastic software engineers, bioinformaticians and scientists.  It develops the world leading Universal Protein Resource (UniProt), the Gene Ontology Annotation and Enzyme resources. The UniProt resource is one of the most internationally used protein databases serving a large and diverse research community in genomics, proteins and proteomics.

Proteins are the building blocks of life and knowing how they function in the cells of living organisms gives us an insight on their health and disease states. A Proteome is the set of proteins encoded by the genome of a certain organism. With knowledge in biology generated at an unprecedented accelerating pace, the number of protein sequences in the database has increased dramatically and computational approaches are needed more than ever for organising the protein space for all these organisms.

Your role

In this role you will analyse data, develop production software, create technical documents, take part in the daily Scrum meeting, as well as communicate with other teams at EMBL-EBI and/or with our international collaboration partners. Scalability will be an important feature of your clear, concise, well tested and documented code. You will also be interested in applying analytic engines and technical approaches to distributed processing of big data. The ability to work towards tight deadlines is essential.

We are looking for a Software engineer with a strong record in software development and interested in solving scientific questions related to Big data in biology. The successful candidate will be working in the organization of large data sets of proteins for thousands of organisms in the database. This is a challenging and central development which requires mathematical and statistical expertise as well as strong software development skills. 

Responsibilities include:

  • Design, development, test, document and maintenance of software for the proteomes production pipeline
  • Assist with the data analysis and data processing algorithms 
  • Support and maintain the resource production and service release
  • Engage and coordinate work with different teams in the organization
  • Assist with innovative programming and big data technologies
  • Assist with programming standards to promote best practices

Apply now

Closing date: 20 January 2022

You have

  • A degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Life Sciences or a related discipline 
  • At least 2 years of working experience in software using Java 
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to work in a team-orientated environment
  • Familiarity with SQL and relational database design principles, Unix shell scripting 
  • Understanding of good coding practices and approaches (OOP, IoC, automated testing, clean code principles, code review) 
  • Familiar with standard development tools (continuous integration e.g. Jenkins, build management e.g. Maven, and source code management systems e.g. GIT, etc).

You might also have

  • Good understanding of Statistics, Graph theory, Probability theory
  • Experience working in bioinformatics and biological resource development would be an advantage

Why join us

Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.

Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential. 

Enjoy lots of benefits:

  • Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme including 17% employer contribution, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
  • Flexible working arrangements
  • Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
  • Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays
  • Relocation package including installation grant (if required)
  • Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
  • Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
  • Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For more details please see our employee benefits page.

Image of EMBL-EBI staff member at her desk
"Since my first day at EMBL-EBI, I have cherished how friendly, helpful and talented everyone is. I particularly like the lively exchange of knowledge on campus."
Anja Thormann, Software Developer, Variation team

What else you need to know

  • Contract duration: This position is a 3 year contract
  • International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants
  • Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities. 
  • Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you.
  • How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system

Bioinformatician


 Are you creative, curious, and ambitious and like to tackle challenging biological data analysis problems?


We have an exciting opportunity for a bioinformatician interested in structural biological data and functional annotations to work within the Protein Data Bank in Europe Team (PDBe) at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). In this role, you will integrate proteomics data from PRIDE data resource and structure information in the PDBe. You will also standardize post translational modification data in the PDB archive and update the PDBe and PDBe-KB data resources. 

The Protein Data Bank in Europe Team (PDBe; pdbe.org) is part of the worldwide Protein Data Bank organisation (wwPDB; wwpdb.org), which maintains the global archive of structural data on biomacromolecules - the PDB. The PDBe Team also maintains several databases that support deposition and advanced search services for structural biologists and the wider scientific community. PDBe team also maintains PDBe Knowledge Base (PDBe-KB) of functional annotations for PDB data and is involved in the development of the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. You will be joining a team consisting of an international and inter-disciplinary mix of professionals including scientists, software engineers, and database engineers.

Your role

This is a scientific, technical role, reporting to the PDBe team leader. You will work on standardising post translational modification information within the PDB archive in collaboration with wwPDB partners. You will also work to update the PDBe and PDBe-KB web pages to display post-translational and proteomics data. Finally, you will also work to update the wwPDB deposition system to provide transparent mechanism to deposit cross-linking data to PRIDE data resource during structure deposition. 

Apply now

Closing date: 26 January 2022

You have

We are looking for a scientific programmer/bioinformatician with strong structural biology background and software engineering skills. You should be able to work both independently and in close collaboration with the PDBe team members. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, as well as excellent knowledge of English, are therefore required.

You should hold a PhD in Structural biology, Bioinformatics or a related field and a minimum of 2 years of work experience in Structural biology, Bioinformatics or related subjects. Strong knowledge of structural biology and excellent knowledge of Python and API frameworks is expected.

You should have:

  • A proven track record of data analysis using Python libraries
  • Experience in data visualisation
  • Proficiency in Python3+
  • Knowledge of standard data science procedures
  • Experience with programmatic access frameworks (e.g. FastAPI)

You might also have

It is an advantage if you have:

  • Experience in full-stack web development
  • Scientific publications on the field of protein/nucleic acid annotations
  • Experience with Apache Spark
  • Knowledge of front-end development with experience in HTML5, CSS3, JS/TS
  • Knowledge of and experience with JavaScript libraries (e.g. Angular.js, D3.js)
  • Experience in presenting scientific themes at conferences and/or workshops

Why join us

Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.

Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential. 

Enjoy lots of benefits:

  • Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme including 17% employer contribution, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
  • Flexible working arrangements
  • Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
  • Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays
  • Relocation package including installation grant (if required)
  • Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
  • Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
  • Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For more details please see our employee benefits page.

 

Image of EMBL-EBI staff member at her desk
"I often find myself involved with completely new tasks that require me to be dynamic and learn a whole new set of skills. You arrive here with a set of skills and knowledge, but you will probably leave having learned a lot more."
Mateus Patricio, Bioinformatician

What else you need to know

  • Contract duration: This position is a grant/project-limited fixed-term contract foreseen for a duration of 3 years or until  01/01/2025 (whichever is shortest).
  • International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants.
  • Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities.
  • Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you. 
  • Your application: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

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VIB Institute in Belgium invites application for vacant (25) PhD, Postdocs and academic Positions

VIB Institute in Belgium invites application for vacant (25) PhD, Postdocs and academic Positions