Contrato predoctoral en biología molecular (Alemania)

To complement our new team "Physical and synthetic biology", which will be embedded into the Biocenter of the LMU in the Microbiology research unit, we are looking for a PhD student (65% E13) with a strong background in molecular biology or biochemistry and interest in microscopy techniques.

The interdisciplinary project "Molecular coordination of ATP-driven transport: conformational dynamics of ABC importers" bridges state-of-the-art single-molecule fluorescence techniques with molecular biology and membrane protein biochemistry. Our group has recently started to use single-molecule techniques for the characterization of conformational dynamics in membrane transporters[1-3]. In this PhD project, the time- and length-scales of conformational changes in different transporter domains of an ABC importer will be characterized using Förster resonance energy transfer. The challenging work combines molecular cloning techniques to purify transporters that can be strategically labelled with fluorophores, membrane protein biochemistry and liposome reconstitution, functional characterization of the system in ATPase and transport assays and finally biophysical studies with single-molecule fluorescence microscopy.

The position is funded by an ERC starting grant and is available from 01.07.2017. The work will be based in the Cordes lab (http://www.rug.nl/research/zernike/molecular-biophysics/cordes-group/), which is currently moving from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands to the LMU Biocenter in Munich. The researcher will also be affiliated with the recently established GRK2062, a vibrant PhD community and network (http://www.grk2062.uni-muenchen.de/index.html).

For a full application send a personal motivation letter, CV, summary of research experience, study records, certificates and contact information of two referees as a single PDF to t.cordes1@gmx.net. Informal inquiries are welcome.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Thorben Cordes
Physical and Synthetic Biology
Department of Biology I, Microbiology, LMU München
Großhaderner Str. 2-4
82152 Planegg-Martinsried

References: [1] G. Gouridis et al., Conformational Dynamics in Substrate-Binding Domains Influence Transport in the ABC Importer GlnPQ“, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology 22 (2015) 57-64.
[2] J. H. M. van der Velde et al., A Simple and Versatile Design Concept for Fluorophore Derivatives with Intramolecular Photostabilization, Nature Communications 7:10444 (2016).
[3] A. Aminian Jazi et al., Single-molecule Foerster-resonance energy transfer using temporal separation of fluorescent signals by caged fluorophores, Biochemistry online (2017).