Research Fellow in Enzyme Engineering / Synthetic Biology (EcoCTs)
A Post-Doctoral position in enzyme engineering/synthetic biology is available within EcoCTs, a CNRS@CREATE Intra-CREATE project between the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and A*STAR – Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI) platform, and SynCTI-NUS in Singapore.
The successful candidate will be a key member of an ambitious research project at the forefront of the Synthetic Biology field, funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) within the frame of CNRS@CREATE that associates Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (INSA, CNRS, INRAE) in France and A*STAR-SIFBI, and SynCTI-NUS in Singapore. Within this project, we aim to address knowledge-based bottlenecks along the value chain from Engineering Biology to Industrial Biotechnology. The goal is to develop a platform workflow that integrates enzyme design, pathway and cell engineering for maximising performance in bioreactors that would be applicable to any new bio-production in line with sustainable circular-bioeconomy. This challenge will be addressed in 3 workpackages:
1/- Enzyme optimization and spatial disposition for pathway design,
2/- Development of new experimental and computational methods for Pathway Design and optimization,
3/- Development of integrated experimental and computational methods for bioprocess optimization.
These workpackages are led by a team of French and Singaporean researchers, specialists of the respective fields. To join this team, we are looking for a candidate who will be in charge of enzyme engineering activities using state-of-the-art evolutionary engineering and computational enzyme design techniques and who will be involved in the development of screening protocols, construction and screening of enzyme libraries, designed by in silico molecular modelling and design methods. These enzymes will be further used for the creation of novel metabolic pathways for terpenoid production from renewable carbon sources that have applications in fragrance and consumer care industry.
The perspective researcher will work in a multidisciplinary environment with access to High-Throughput Screening equipment (both in Singapore and Toulouse, France) and have frequent and strong interactions with other scientists involved in metabolic engineering, pathway engineering and computational enzyme design.
- PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Biochemical engineering or related field.
- Experience with enzyme engineering and enzyme library construction
- Expertise with HT screening, assay design and development and trouble shooting
- Experience in structural biology and molecular modelling/computational enzyme design would be a plus
- Preferred experience with protein production, purification, characterization and crystallization knowledge
- Preferred experience with metabolic engineering/synthetic biology background
- Strong communication and organizational skills and enjoy working in a team-oriented environment.
- Good English skills are required.
The position is available starting in June 2022 and for a duration of up to 20 months. The position will be mainly based in Singapore with possible visiting stays in Toulouse, France.
Salary: gross monthly salary will be minimum s$5000 (12 monthly wages per year)
Bonus: up to 1 month, (conditionally)
Benefits: as a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the benefits that CNRS@CREATE offers.
Applicants should send as soon as possible CV, summary of previous research and contact addresses of two references to:
- Isabelle ANDRÉ (TBI, Toulouse): isabelle.andre@insa-toulouse.fr
- Xixian CHEN (A*STAR-SIFBI, Singapore): xixian_chen@sifbi.a-star.edu.sg
- Wen Shan YEW (SynCTI-NUS, Singapore): wen_shan_yew@nuhs.edu.sg