Background:

Cytochromes are an important class of enzymes that catalyse redox reactions in biological systems. Despite the obvious interest in the catalytic activities of cytochromes, the sequence-structure-activity-function paradigm in relation to the different cytochromes has not been extensively explored.

Project Objectives:

1. To study the molecular evolution.

2. Identification of the key amino-acid residues of the catalytic site by comparing protein sequences that evolve under purifying selection versus those that evolve neutrally.

3. Molecular modelling studies of in silico modifications of the enzymes, and determining the effect of the substrate binding

Applicant Profile:

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve (prior to the project start), an honours degree (or equivalent) in Biochemistry/Bioinformatics/Chemical Engineering/Chemistry/Mathematics/ Computer Science or any other equivalent degree with strong interest in computational genomics, modelling and biology. A significant component of the project is computational, hence prior experience with programming languages such as Python or C is desirable. Prior publication(s) as co-author from Master thesis is desirable.

Position Details:

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the PhD Programme in the Department of Chemical Sciences and the Bernal Institute at the University of Limerick with a start date of the 1st of Sept 2022. The PhD-position is for four years and includes tuition fees, an annual stipend, travel and a consumables budget. 

The project will be supervised by Dr Virag Sharma, Dr. Matthias Vandichel and co-supervised by Prof. Tewfik Soulimane.

Further information: https://macatamo-group.com/vacancies 

Expression of interest (CV + cover letter) can be sent to both [email protected] and [email protected]. Interviews will take place from 1st of July.