Postdoctoral Researcher - Structural Bioenergetics

Postdoctoral Researcher - Structural Bioenergetics

Max Planck Institute of Biophysics

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Prof. Dr. Dr. Hartmut Michel’s emeritus group (formerly department of Molecular Membrane Biology) at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics aims to recruit a postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d) with a strong background in protein biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology. In particular, the candidate will study structure-function relationship of respiratory terminal oxidases with an emphasis on UV-vis spectroscopy and electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM). The postdoctoral researcher (m/w/d) is expected to work within a team, and also take personal responsibility in the projects and start to develop independent ideas. Our multi-disciplinary institute provides an innovative, dynamic and constructive working environment for this purpose.

Your tasks

• Production, purification and downstream optimization of terminal oxidase samples for structural studies via cryoEM;
• Stable adjustment and spectroscopic characterization of catalytic reaction intermediates and their transitions;
• Single particle cryo-EM sample preparation and data collection using state-of-the-art equipment at our core facility, density determination, interpretation and model building.

Your qualfications

We are seeking:

• an outstanding experimentalist with a PhD degree in biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics with a strong focus on membrane protein research;
• hands-on experience in cryo-EM and in spectroscopic methods (UV-vis, FTIR, Raman, etc.);
• hands-on experience with molecular biology, biochemistry and budding yeast genetics techniques such as molecular cloning, protein expression and/or purification;
• a creative and hardworking individual that has a strong interest in bioenergetics.

Proficiency in English (both speaking and writing).