PhD Research fellow in Immunology (computational structural biology)

Job description

Applications are invited for a 3 year position in a Research Fellowship as PhD Candidate in immunology (computational structural biology) to be based at the Department of Immunology, Division of Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo.

The position is available from March 2024 with a flexible start between March and September 2024. The position will be located in the laboratory of Dr. Greiff (Lab for Computational and Systems Immunology, greifflab.org). The position is funded by the European Research Council.

More about the position

The research fellow must take part in the University’s approved PhD program and is expected to complete the project within the set fellowship period. The main purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.

The candidate will develop and employ a variety of computational biology techniques to perform structure-based antibody design, developing and employing machine-learning tools for predicting antibody-epitope binding and antibody developability. In silico antibody design is a long-standing computational and immunological problem. Improving computational methods for antibody recognition is crucial for the development of personalized and precision medicine approaches such as next-generation infection, cancer, and autoimmune immunodiagnostics and immunotherapeutics. The candidate will be expected to closely collaborate with machine learning experts, statisticians, computational and experimental immunologists as well as clinicians.

The Greiff Lab focuses on the quantitative understanding of adaptive immune receptor (antibody and T-cell receptor) specificity using high-throughput experimental and computational immunology combined with machine learning. The long-term aim is to conceive in-silico novel immunodiagnostics and immunotherapeutics using the disease-diagnostic information and therapeutic potential that is directly encoded into adaptive immune receptors.

The advent of high-throughput sequencing has enabled an unprecedented accumulation of big immune repertoire sequencing data. However, as of yet, we lack the computational methods that help us decode the immune grammar that translates immune sequencing data to immune state diagnosis and prediction of antigen binding. We believe that learning to read and write the immune repertoire language is key for the development of entirely novel, nature-inspired precision medicine immunodiagnostics and immunotherapeutics. Recent publications by Dr. Greiff may be found on google scholar.

Qualifications

The following qualifications are prerequisites:

• Applicants must hold a Master’s degree (120 ECTS) or equivalent in Computational Biology, minimum grade B (ECTS grading scale) or equivalent. The Master’s degree must include a thesis of at least 30 ECTS.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

The following qualifications are an advantage:

• Experience in antibody immunology is an advantage
• Experience in antibody developability measures calculation is an advantage
• Experience in computational structure biology is considered an advantage.
• Experience in molecular dynamics simulations is considered an advantage.
• Experience in manuscript writing is considered an advantage.

Personal skills

The candidate will work in a very ambitious interdisciplinary setting which will require high flexibility, good communication and collaboration skills.

We offer

• NOK 534 200 - 575 400 per annum depending on qualifications in a position as PhD Research fellow, (position code 1017).
• attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities
• highly ambitious and collaborative work environment 

How to apply

 The application must include

• cover letter statement of motivation and research interests
• CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work)
• copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)
• a complete list of publications and academic works
• list of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number)

• github code examples

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “apply for this job”. Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University's grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language).

Applicants may be called in for an interview.

Contact information

Associate Professor Victor Greiff, e-mail: victor.greiff@medisin.uio.no, www.greifflab.org.

HR-adviser Mija Nikolaisen, (questions regarding the online application form), e-mail: mija.nikolaisen@medisin.uio.no

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.

The appointment may be shortened/given a more limited scope within the framework of the applicable guidelines on account of any previous employment in academic positions.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.