07 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Durham University, England

Prospective candidates will have a higher degree (to PhD level) in chemistry, in biochemistry or in biological chemistry. Evidence of an advanced level of competence in the purification and characterisation of metalloproteins is essential, including in the determine of metal affinities, DNA affinities of transcriptional regulators, protein structure determination and establishing the metalation status of recombinant metallo-proteins. Background knowledge of metals in biological systems and related bioinorganic chemistry are also both essential.  The post requires good skills in reporting research progress verbally, and in writing. It involves collaboration with an external partner at the Quadram Institute in Norwich. The objective of this BBSRC programme is to make protein metalation in cells tractable in research and in biotechnology. The hypothesis being tested is that protein metalation inside cells can be calculated from free energy differences (deltaG), and that available deltaG can be read-out using metal-sensors. A purpose of this work has been to develop such calculations for bespoke (conditional) cells, to test the calculations, and to make such calculations accessible to non-specialists through easy-to-use metalation calculators. The first and last objectives are already complete, and the remaining year will focus on testing the calculator via the entrapment of metals (including cobalt, manganese, and iron) by the protein MncA. This will be done at different ratios of intracellular deltaG for various metals and tested against in vitro entrapment at the same metal ratios by folding MncA protein in matching metal buffers. Additionally, the repertoire of tractable metalloproteins will be extended to encompass kinetic trapping. The work has significance for bioscience and industrial biotechnology generally, and the manufacture of vitamin B₁₂ specifically

Founded in 1952, the Department of Psychology is consistently ranked as one of the very best in the UK with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our students. We are currently ranked 6^th in the Complete University Guide, 4^th in the Guardian University League Table, and in the top 100 of Psychology Departments world-wide according to the QS World Rankings. The department’s research falls within three groupings: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, and Quantitative Social Psychology. The Department is committed to creating and maintaining a research and teaching environment that spans the entire breadth of Psychology. The Department is well equipped for research in most areas including facilities for fMRI, TMS, EEG, eye tracking, as well as the analysis of visuomotor action and psychophysical performance. The Department also has a motion capture lab, an echo-attenuated chamber and a suite of observation labs.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Computer Science with a particular emphasis on Algorithms, Complexity, Universal Algebra and Logic. The research project is the EPSRC-funded “Algebraic methods for Quantified Constraints”. This is led by principal investigator (PI) Dr. Barnaby Martin, in Durham, with co-investigators Dr. Catarina Cavalho (University of Hertfordshire) and Dr. Hubie Chen (King’s College, London.  The aim of the project is to study the computational complexity of Quantified Constraint Satisfaction Problems (QCSPs). The successful applicant will be expected to assist the project team in their research on the complexity of QCSPs as well as the PI in organising a yearly satellite workshop on QCSPs at some major international conference. 

The Department of Biosciences is composed of 62 academic staff and research fellows; around 50 research and technical support staff; over 90 Research Postgraduate students and over 500 Single Honours undergraduate students, and also teaches students from the Natural Sciences programme. The Department is committed to an ethos of research-led teaching at both BSc and MBiol levels, and was ranked 5th in the UK for Biological Sciences Departments in the Complete University Guide 2023. Our basic science underpins applications across each-and-every sector of the bio-economy, including Biotechnology, Ecology and Agritechnology. Research programmes are grouped in the following areas: Molecular Plant Sciences; Biomolecular Interactions; Ecology, Evolution and Environment; and Animal Cells and Systems. These groups organise focused seminar series, Research Away Days, manage joint research facilities, oversee mentoring, internal peer review and serve to nucleate larger research projects. Along with our excellent research facilities such as bioimaging, proteomics, metabolomics and genomics we offer a high quality and supportive environment for our research staff.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Prof A Monkman on a joint project entitled “Pitting Molecular Strain Against Aromaticity” in collaboration with Prof P McGonigal at the University of York.  In Durham we will undertake complex time resolved measurements of emission and photoinduced absorption on the order of femtosecond to microsecond to understand the evolution of conformational reorganisation of molecular structure in the excited state. Measured decay kinetics will be modelled using various kinetic models to derive radiative and non-radiative decay rates as well as ISC rates along with phosphorescent lifetimes. From this, energetic relaxation pathways, quenching channels and conformational reorganisation will be determined. A high level of previous knowledge of time resolved spectroscopy measurement and modelling of photophysical processes is required for this project. 

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in environmental simulation modelling with a particular emphasis on catchment hydrological and water quality modelling under projected climate and land use change. The research project is funded by NERC under the Freshwaters programme and is called “ECOMIX – Assessing and Managing The Impacts Of Mixtures Of Chemicals On UK Freshwater Biodiversity In A Changing World”. The overall project will consider how the changing climate and land use will affect the export of a range of chemicals and nutrients to the freshwater environment and their impact on biodiversity. Durham University is leading the catchment hydrology and biogeochemical modelling and these results will feed into the water chemistry work at the University of York and the biological impacts work at the University of Sheffield.