06 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Masaryk University, Czech Republic

We are looking for a colleague to join the Department of Archaeology and Museology with focus on humanities or natural sciences, such as archaeology, art history, anthropology, genetics, geology, climatology, botany and geophysics. The successful candidate will participate in research activities of the project “Ready for the future: understanding long-term resilience of the human culture (RES-HUM)” which is focused on understanding basic principles of the resilience of human society in a historical perspective using long time series and on the transfer of the acquired knowledge into everyday social life.

Do you have a passion for understanding the details of virus replication cycles? Join our team! Our research projects focus on determining particle structures and infection mechanisms of human picornaviruses and flaviviruses, as well as bacteriophages infecting pathogenic bacteria.

The Plevka Lab has access to cutting-edge cryo-EM equipment at our in-house core facility. Our work is supported by significant third-party funding, including an ERC Consolidator grant, ensuring freedom in pursuing our research endeavors.

We are seeking creative, independent, and motivated colleagues with proven research experience relevant to this position. Candidates with expertise in virology or structural biology are particularly encouraged to apply. 

We’re excited to announce an open post-doctoral position in Robert Vacha’s Research Group!

With nearly 10 million lives claimed annually, cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for more effective treatments. One promising strategy involves mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy vaccines, which require a drug delivery system capable of reliably reaching the cytosol. Developing such delivery systems is challenging: they must ensure cytosolic delivery and therapeutic efficacy while maintaining safety, long-term stability, and compliance with scalable manufacturing standards—including high mRNA loading efficiency and uniform particle size. Current lipid- and polymer-based systems offer distinct advantages, but integrating lessons from both may help develop more effective next-generation carriers. A major limitation remains the incomplete understanding of nanoparticle assembly and disassembly under diverse physiological conditions (e.g., extracellular fluids, endosomal compartments, cytosol).

This project will use coarse-grained molecular simulations, complemented by in-house experimental validation, to gain molecular insights in the controlled system assembly and disassembly. Our goal is to guide the rational design of improved mRNA delivery systems to advance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.

We’re excited to announce an open post-doctoral position in Robert Vacha’s Research Group!

Eukaryotic and prokaryotic plasma membranes exhibit inherent asymmetry, with distinct lipid compositions between the two leaflets. However, most studies to date have focused on symmetric bilayers. This project addresses this gap by integrating molecular dynamics simulations with experimental techniques such as solid-state NMR spectroscopy and scattering methods.

The primary aim is to elucidate the structural and dynamical properties of lipids in asymmetric membranes, particularly their interactions with integral membrane proteins, with an emphasis on bacterial lipid compositions. Initial step will involve determining lipid chain order parameters, bilayer structure, and lipid dynamics. Subsequently, lipid-protein interactions will be assessed, focusing on lipid-induced modulation of enzymatic activity in two bacterial proteins: OmpLA, a β-barrel protein, and GlpG, an α-helical transmembrane protein. The findings will offer key insights into the role of lipid asymmetry in biological membranes and its influence on membrane protein function, with potential applications in the development of lipid-targeted therapeutics and biosensors for pharmaceutical and biotechnological use.

We’re are looking for a new post-doctoral team member, who will investigate structures of ribosomal complexes involved in human translation control. Our lab is equipped with state-of-the-art cryo-EM instruments, available at our in-house core facility. Plus, we’ve recently secured substantial third-party funding, including an ERC Starting Grant and an EMBO Installation Grant, ensuring robust support for our research endeavors.

Are you a creative, independent and driven individual with strong research experience in structural biology and translation and documented research experience related to this position? Let us know about you!