ScienceCareers.eu - Job Vacancies in the Basque Country

Description:
About the Project
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No.101265901)
The T6S-PoreMech project, funded by a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant, aims to establish a new unifying framework for understanding Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) Pore-Forming Toxins (PFTs). By combining cutting-edge single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), membrane protein biochemistry, and single-channel electrophysiology, the project will resolve the atomic architectures of active, membrane-inserted toxin pores and decipher how bacteria defend themselves against these molecular weapons.
We are seeking three highly motivated and talented team members to join this exciting 5-year initiative at Instituto Biofisika:

Open Positions
1. Postdoctoral Researcher – Biophysics & Toxin Function (Postdoc 1)
? Role: Lead the in vivo and in vitro functional characterization of T6SS pore-forming toxins and their biophysical molecular mechanisms.
? Essential qualifications:
o Ph.D. in Biophysics, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, or a related field.
o Demonstrated expertise in biophysics, membrane proteins, and/or pore-forming toxins.
? Desirable qualifications:
o Experience with single-channel planar lipid bilayer electrophysiology, liposome/nanodisc reconstitutions, or flow cytometry-based cellular assays.

2. Postdoctoral Researcher – Cryo-EM & Structural Biology (Postdoc 2)
? Role: Drive high-resolution single-particle cryo-EM structure determination of active, membrane-inserted toxin pores in nanodiscs and toxin-immunity complexes using megabody technologies.
? Essential qualifications:
o Ph.D. in Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, or a related field.
o Demonstrated expertise in cryo-EM (sample preparation, grid vitrification, data collection, and processing), membrane proteins, or pore-forming toxins.
? Desirable qualifications:
o Experience with nanodisc reconstitution, megabodies/nanobodies, or membrane protein purification.
3. Technical Specialist – Protein Biochemistry
? Role: Support the day-to-day laboratory operations, manage molecular biology pipelines, and lead the expression and purification of challenging bacterial membrane proteins to support all project pillars.
? Essential qualifications:
o B.Sc., M.Sc., or Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Biotechnology, or a related field.
o Proven expertise in protein biochemistry, specifically protein expression and purification (bacterial expression systems, affinity/size-exclusion chromatography).
? Desirable qualifications:
o Prior experience in handling membrane-associated proteins, lab management, and inventory ordering is highly valued.

Benefits: