Doctorat (M/F) — Design and chemical synthesis of peptide sequences for molecular information storage

Job Description

Thesis Subject

The doctoral thesis will be conducted within the framework of the ANR PERP project (PEPSISCO - “Peptide storage of information using spin correlation”) under the supervision of Prof. Vladimir Torbeev (Group “Biosystems Chemistry” at the CNRS research unit UMR 7242 “Biotechnology and Cellular Signalling”). The collaborating team involved in the project is led by Prof. Bruno Kieffer (Group ”Biomolecular Nuclear Magnetic Resonance” at IGBMC), who also serves as the project coordinator. The doctoral student will focus on the design and chemical synthesis of polypeptides and combinatorial libraries incorporating non-canonical amino acids, with the objective of developing systems for molecular information storage. The work will involve solid-phase peptide synthesis as well as innovative chemical ligation strategies. Advanced NMR methodologies, implemented in collaboration with Prof. Kieffer's group, will be employed to decode the stored molecular information. The PhD candidate will be responsible for the design and chemical synthesis of polypeptides and combinatorial libraries incorporating non-canonical amino acids, with the aim of developing molecular information storage systems. He or she will design sequences capable of encoding information while taking into account structural constraints, encoding capacity, and synthetic routes, and will then carry out their synthesis. The work will also include decoding the stored information by NMR (sample preparation, experiment design, data acquisition, and analysis), as well as writing reports and scientific manuscripts and disseminating results at group meetings and scientific conferences.

Your Work Environment

The project will be conducted in the Biosystems chemistry group within the interdisciplinary unit UMR 7242 Biotechnology and Cellular Signalling directed by CNRS and the University of Strasbourg and located at the Ecole Superieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg (ESBS) at the Illkirch campus. The research unit is composed of 8 research groups working on different topics such as integrity of the genome and membrane signalling. The research approaches combine functional genomics and chemical biology. The research in our team focuses on the application of chemical protein synthesis. The necessary facilities for conducting the work will be provided such as chemical synthesis of peptides by solid-phase synthesis, recombinant protein expression, characterization by HPLC and mass-spectrometry, as well as state-of-the-art NMR spectroscopy. Currently, our team is composed of 1 Professor, 1 Assistant Professor, 1 Research Engineer, 1 Technical Assistant, 1 postdoctoral researcher and 4 PhD students. We are searching for a highly motivated candidate, skilled in organic chemistry and strongly interested in biophysics, structure and design of biopolymers. Previous experience in peptide synthesis will be a strong advantage. The candidate will integrate into the team of Biosystelms Chemistry at UMR 7242 and will be enrolled in the ED222 doctoral school in Chemistry, which requires to follow the rules of the doctoral education. For more information, please, see web-site: https://torbeevlab.com.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

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