The Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Taros Chemicals, Dortmund Germany is looking for a highly motivated, experimentally skilled, synthetic organic chemists to conduct the PhD study in the framework of H2020 European Training Network titled “Targeted Small-molecules Stabilization of Protein-Protein Interaction” (TASPPI).
Taros Chemicals is proud to offer a unique workplace culture that inspires innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. Within this environment Taros scientists are empowered to express diverse perspectives, and are valued, energized and rewarded for their ideas and creativity.
Project description
The PhD candidate will synthesize small molecules and fragments that stabilize the 14-3-3 PPI within interactions with number of partner proteins (Tau, Gab2, NfkappaB, BAD, BAX, ASK1) that are known to be related to neurodegeneration, oncology, inflammation, metabolic diseases. The candidate will obtain the PhD degree from Eindhoven University of Technology therefore she/he will be working under the supervision of the industrial and academic tutor. The candidate will be comfortable using synthetic chemistry techniques on a daily basis to attack fundamental problems in organic synthesis. The daily activities of the PhD candidate consist mainly in research, but it is also expected that the candidate participates in the many seminars by internal and external speakers as well as journal clubs and group activities. Collaboration with other PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers and other members of the consortium will be encouraged. At the end of the PhD program the candidate will be an expert in design, synthesis and optimization of small-molecules/ fragments libraries with biological activity.
While these topics are fundamentally of an organic chemistry nature, the candidate has the possibility to develop collaborations with other members of the TASPPI consortium and to visit the biological laboratory in order to broaden the field of expertise.
To address this, our project will involve the following a. combinatorial synthesis and expansion of a library of diverse structural analogues of an existing compound demonstrating stabilization activity in PPI; b. iterative testing of the compound library will be undertaken within consortium with our biology partners to elucidate the biological activity and aid the design of more potent analogues.
Minimum requirements
Applicants must have a Master in Organic Chemistry, with an emphasis on organic synthesis. Potential candidates will require a strong background in chemical synthesis, with a background knowledge of medicinal chemistry and protein-protein interaction advantageous. In addition we expect, applicants to be self motivated and driven by scientific curiosity. A strong team spirit and good interpersonal skills combined with an ability to effectively work in a team based environment are expected.