The Faculty of Science at Lund University is hiring a postdoctoral fellow at the interface of organic chemistry and chemical biology. The project builds a modular chemical platform for targeted protein degradation in bacteria (BacPROTACs), a new strategy against antimicrobial resistance in drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
The role
- Design and run multistep synthesis of bifunctional degrader molecules: ligands, linkers and protease-recruiting elements.
- Develop, validate and routinely run biochemical assays for target engagement and protein degradation with recombinant bacterial proteins.
- Test compounds for antibacterial activity in S. aureus together with an infection biology group at Lund.
- Characterise compounds by NMR, LC-MS, HRMS, IR and chromatography, and interpret structure-activity relationships to guide the next design round.
- Supervise thesis students and doctoral candidates; teaching up to 20% of working hours.
Requirements
- A PhD or equivalent in the subject, completed no more than three years before the employment decision (earlier only in special circumstances).
- Very good oral and written English.
- Documented experience of multistep organic synthesis, purification and structural characterisation of small molecules.
- Documented experimental work at the chemistry-biology interface, such as biochemical, enzymatic, cell-based or microbiological assays.
- Independent, structured work with accurate documentation. Meriting: PROTACs or other degraders, assay development, medicinal chemistry, recombinant proteins, microbiology, proteomics.
- Apply in English with one PDF: CV with publication list, a description of past research and future interests (max 3 pages), contacts for two references, and a copy of the doctoral certificate and other certificates.
About the employer
Lund’s Faculty of Science has eight departments covering astronomy, biology, physics, geosciences, chemistry, mathematics and environmental sciences, with about 330 PhD students and 730 employees.
Salary and deadline
- Fixed-term, full time, maximum two years, starting 1 March 2027 or as agreed, under Lund University’s agreement on fixed-term postdoc employment. Monthly salary; the ad gives no amount.
- Deadline: 16 November 2026, reference PA2026/3000. Apply through Lund’s Varbi system.
Source: Faculty of Science, Lund University, “Post-doctoral fellow in Organic Chemistry”, read on 25 October 2026. Summary by AVIDE; see the original page for the full, current text.