PhD Student Position (Enzymology and enzyme engineering) 80 %

Start of employment Upon agreement, approximately between January and June 2027

80% represents the standard employment rate for PhD students for the Department of Chemistry and is not a reflection of part-time employment.

A PhD project is available in the group of Prof. Dr. Alexandria (Ali) Deliz Liang in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). Our laboratory works on fundamental enzymology and methods in enzyme engineering including genetic code expansion. Currently, we are seeking a highly motivated PhD stu-dent to join our work in these areas.

Your responsibilities

The successful candidate will take on responsibilities that approximately follow the trajectory below.

Cloning, expression, purification, and activity characterization for our target enzyme,
Chemical synthesis of substrates and assay probes,
Assay development for screening enzymatic activity,
Creation and high-throughput screening of DNA libraries,
NGS and computational analysis of variants,
Scripting in python for data analysis,
Characterization of key enzyme variants, and
Combining mechanistic enzymology and computation to understand the effects of mutations on catalysis.

Although no candidate will be expected to have experience in all the fields above prior to joining, the project is interdisciplinary. Thus, an enthusiasm and capacity to become proficient in all of these techniques is essential.

Additionally, the student will be responsible for academic and organizational duties, including

serving as a teaching assistant for introductory chemistry courses,
participating in group meetings and departmental seminars,
fulfilling group responsibilities (equipment and organizational responsibilities), and
completing PhD requirements for the chemistry graduate school program.

Your profile

Essential:

A highly motivated student with an MS degree in chemistry, biochemistry, or related field
Ability to logically design rigorous experiments, including control experiments
Scientific integrity
Proactive about planning
Capable of integrating feedback efficiently
Capable of working in a highly interdisciplinary project
Experience with cloning, protein expression, and protein purification
Experience with chemical synthesis
Willingness and ability to learn Python scripting
Enthusiastic about learning and applying new techniques
Enthusiastic about working on an interdisciplinary research project
Excellent communications skills in English (spoken and written) are essential
Conscientious and inclusive working style
Ability to positively contribute to a supportive working environment

Highly desirable, one or more of the following:

Enzyme assay development
Protein engineering
Comfort with light scripting for data analysis

Information on your application

Applications should be submitted through the application portal using the “Apply now” button below. Applications sent by email will be immediately deleted.

Applicants should prepare a single PDF document that includes the following: i) a 1-page cover letter describing previous research and motivation for applying to this position, ii) a detailed curriculum vitae, and iii) the names of two people who can supply reference letters. Please note that the application portal also includes a short, mandatory questionnaire.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early submission is encouraged.