The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is a leading scientific research organization with the main laboratory situated in Heidelberg, Germany and four Outstations placed in Germany, UK, France and Italy. Patil group in the Structural and Computational Biology Unit at EMBL – Heidelberg is interested in applications for a post-doctoral position within the field of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most widely used cell factories in industrial biotechnology. Moreover, several novel biosustainable processes using S. cerevisiae that are under development today have the potential to replace traditional petro-chemical synthesis. However, the development of optimized cell factories for the production of novel compounds is a time-consuming process and represents a significant cost/time burden. The two post-doctoral positions will be part of a trans-national consortium that will help overcoming this hurdle by using cutting-edge computational and experimental tools. The main goal is to exploit the biochemical design principles of nature for constructing a pre-optimized library of chassis strains. These chassis strains will find application in creating more efficient cell factories for sustainable production of a variety of compounds of socio-economic value, including vanillin, succinic acid and biofuels. The project provides a unique opportunity for candidates who wish to apply their scientific knowledge and skills to tackle biological problems of industrial importance. In addition, the candidates will have an excellent to acquire new skills.

EMBL provides an international, innovative and interdisciplinary work environment, with access to the state of the art experimental and computational infrastructure.

• Computer-aided design: PhD degree in computational biology, Systems biology or Computer science.
• Metabolic engineering: PhD degree in metabolic engineering, Yeast genetics or Microbiology.

The successful candidates will be highly motivated and have excellent scientific skills. S/he should have good communication skills in English and an open, proactive personality to work in a team of young international researchers.