Open positions

Investigating the Structural Stability of Therapeutic Antibodies Using Biophysical Techniques

Julien Orts’ group: “BioNMR and Drug Discovery by Advanced NMR Methods”

University of Vienna

Join our dynamic and innovative team! We are seeking an enthusiastic Master’s student to work on an exciting project at the intersection of molecular biology, biophysics, and pharmaceutical formulation. This project aims to understand how formulation and environmental conditions influence the structural stability of next-generation therapeutic antibodies.

Project Background

Ensuring the structural stability of antibody-based therapeutics is a major challenge in pharmaceutical development. Subtle changes in protein structure and dynamics often precede irreversible aggregation, which can render a drug ineffective.In this project, you will work with the antigen binding domain  of monoclonal antibodies derived from yeast-based system and investigate how different formulation ingredients and environmental stress conditions affect them, helping to find ways to detect early structural instabilities before harmful aggregation occurs.

What You Will Learn & Do

As a Master's student in our lab, you will receive extensive hands-on training in expressing and purifying antibody Fab domain using a yeast system and how to utilize advanced biophysical techniques and NMR spectroscopy to monitor protein stability, track early-stage self-association, and map how proteins behave under stress.

Candidate Profile

Motivated student in Pharmacy, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, or a related field with a strong interest in molecular biology, biophysics, and pharmaceutical sciences. Basic laboratory skills are sufficient, as comprehensive training in all required techniques will be provided.

This project is planned to be completed within a 6-9 month period (minimum 6 month required).

How to Apply

If you are interested in joining us and contributing to the future of biopharmaceutical formulation, please send your CV and a brief motivation letter to:anupreet.kaur@univie.ac.at

Quick Read: The Future of Biologics

Thomas, F. Looking to the Future of Biologics. BioPharm International, 2024, 37(5), 7–10.

Important: This is an unpaid position that provides participants with practical experience, mentorship, and the opportunity to develop new skills.

We are looking for a highly motivated student to join our group at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

            The goal of this project is to explore the inhibition of bromodomains as a novel antifungal strategy against invasive Candida infections. Bromodomains are easily druggable, and over the last decade, academic groups and pharmaceutical companies have discovered several inhibitors targeting human bromodomains. In the realm of fungal infection, however, bromodomain targets are largely unexplored. It was recently reported that fungal BET bromodomains are viable anti-fungal targets that could be inhibited without antagonizing human BET function. Our hypothesis is that the functionality of specific fungal bromodomains is critical for the viability and virulence of pathogenic Candida species, and that small molecules targeting these domains with selectivity compared to human BDs represent a potential new class of antifungal drug. 

            Your task will be to express and purify Candida BET proteins in large amounts, high purity and to screen multiple compound libraries against these bromodomains using NMR spectroscopy.

            You should have a deep interested in pharmaceutical sciences as well as in advanced biophysical and spectroscopic technics. We offer extensive training in molecular biology, biochemistry and NMR spectroscopy, a highly collaborative research environment and the possibility to conduct cutting edge research.

For applications or further information please contact:

nicolas.coudevylle@univie.ac.at

We seek an enthusiastic student to join our dynamic and innovative team in the “BioNMR and Drug Discovery by Adva nced NMR Methods” group at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences! You will work on an exciting project to explore new approaches in protein–ligand structure determination methods. This is a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution to the field of drug discovery.

We recently proposed NMR² as a powerful method to quickly elucidate protein–ligand complex structures not amenable to crystallography without having to perform the tedious step of protein resonance assignment.

As an intern, your task will be to further develop and explore the capabilities of this method. We will teach you how to analyze sparse NMR data and how to use them in molecular dynamic simulations to solve the structure of therapeutically relevant protein/ligand complexes. You should have a deep interest in advanced biophysical and spectroscopic technics applied to biological problems as well as knowledge in biophysical chemistry and/or computational sciences. This project is planned to be completed in a 6-month period. We offer extensive training in structural biology and advance NMR methods, a highly collaborative research environment and the possibility to conduct cutting edge research.

If you are interested in this position, please send your CV and motivation letter:

Nicolas Coudevylle

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry 

Email: nicolas.coudevylle@univie.ac.at

References:

NMR Molecular Replacement Provides New Insights into Binding Modes to Bromodomains of BRD4 and TRIM24. Torres F et al. J Med Chem. 2022 Apr 14;65(7):5565-5574.

Protein-ligand structure determination with the NMR molecular replacement tool, NMR².
Orts J, Riek R. J Biomol NMR. 2020 Nov;74(10-11):633-642

Website of the group:

bionmr.univie.ac.at

We seek an enthusiastic student to join our dynamic and innovative team in the “BioNMR and Drug Discovery by Advanced NMR Methods” group at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences! You will work on an exciting project to explore new approaches in protein–ligand structure determination methods. This is a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution to the field of drug discovery.

You will develop computational technologies for advanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods to analyze and predict the molecular interactions between drugs and protein targets. The project lies in computer science, software design, and molecular biophysics interface.

You should have a deep interest in programming (C++ or python) and the will to work with (bio)molecules. The Orts laboratory focuses on structural biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and drug design, within a highly collaborative research environment and the possibility of conducting cutting-edge research.

This project is planned to be completed in a 6-month period. We offer extensive training in structural biology and advance NMR methods, a highly collaborative research environment and the possibility to conduct cutting edge research.

If you are interested in this position, please send your CV and a short motivation letter:

Nicolas Coudevylle

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry 

Email: nicolas.coudevylle@univie.ac.at

References:

NMR Molecular Replacement Provides New Insights into Binding Modes to Bromodomains of BRD4 and TRIM24.
Torres F et al. J Med Chem. 2022 Apr 14;65(7):5565-5574.

Protein-ligand structure determination with the NMR molecular replacement tool, NMR².
Orts J, Riek R. J Biomol NMR. 2020 Nov;74(10-11):633-642

Website of the group:

bionmr.univie.ac.at

We seek a dynamic and enthusiastic student to join the group “BioNMR and Drug Discovery by Advanced NMR Methods” at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. You will have the unique opportunity to conduct your research both at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Max Perutz Labs (MPL), collaborating with the group of Sascha Martens. This will provide you with exposure to a wider range of research techniques and environments, as well as the chance to enlarge your network by collaborating with leading researchers in the field.

As an intern, you will have the opportunity to use modern Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods to analyze the molecular functions of proteins during autophagosome formation, which is a fascinating process involving over a dozen proteins with very diverse properties. Despite its importance, little is known about the molecular mechanism by which autophagosomes are formed. This work will shed new light on the enigmatic process.

The techniques that your will learn to express and purify different proteins involved in autophagosome formation, and state-of-the-art NMR methods, which you will employ to study protein interactions in vitro. The results you obtain will be cross-validated by other biophysical methods you will also get the chance to grasp, such as ITC or microscopy-based protein/protein interaction assays (in collaboration with the group of Sascha Martens and the Perutz labs). We offer extensive training in Structural Biology, Molecular Biology,Biochemistry, and Cell Biology, a highly collaborative research environment, and the possibility to conduct cutting edge research.

You should be curious about learning and understanding Biophysical and spectroscopic techniques applied to biological problems. No previous experience is needed, only the basic work you performed during your Praktikum, since we will provide all the needed training. This project is planned to be completed in a 6 month period. 

If you are interested in this position, please send your CV and motivation letter:

Nicolas Coudevylle

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry 

Email: nicolas.coudevylle@univie.ac.at

References:

Mechanism of Atg9 recruitment by Atg11 in the cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting pathway.
Coudevylle N et al. J Biol Chem. 2022 Feb;298(2):101573.

Reconstitution of autophagosome nucleation defines Atg9 vesicles as seeds for membrane formation.
Sawa-Makarska J, Baumann V, Coudevylle N et al. Nat Commun. 2020 Sep 4;369(6508).

Website of the group:

bionmr.univie.ac.at            You should have a deep interested in pharmaceutical sciences as well as in advanced biophysical and spectroscopic technics. We offer extensive training in molecular biology, biochemistry and NMR spectroscopy, a highly collaborative research environment and the possibility to conduct cutting edge research.

For applications or further information please contact:

nicolas.coudevylle@univie.ac.at

Master Position: “Protein production pipeline for structural and dynamic analysis”

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Master's student to join the dynamic and innovative BioNMR and Drug Discovery by Advanced NMR Methods group at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

In this project, you will develop a high-throughput protein production pipeline that will enable the rapid production and characterization of hundreds of proteins, ultimately contributing to the creation of a comprehensive database of protein structural dynamics. This is a unique opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the field of protein structural biology while gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies.

As part of your thesis, you will establish the protein production pipeline using our state-of-the-art automated liquid-handling (pipetting) robots. You will receive extensive training in advanced protein expression and purification techniques and work with modern laboratory automation platforms. Once the pipeline is established, you will have the opportunity to use it for NMR-based structural and dynamic characterization of the proteins produced.

We are looking for a student who has:

• A strong interest in protein biochemistry and structural biology.
• An affinity for technology, laboratory automation, and programming.
• Enthusiasm for developing new experimental workflows and working at the interface of biology and technology.

The project is expected to take  6–9 months to complete.

We offer:

•  Extensive training in structural biology and advanced NMR methodologies.
• Extensive training in structural biology and advanced NMR methodologies.
• Hands-on experience with state-of-the-art laboratory automation and instrumentation.

• A collaborative, interdisciplinary, and supportive research environment.

• The opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research with lasting scientific impact.

If you are interested in this position, please send your CV and motivation letter:

Nicolas Coudevylle

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Email: nicolas.coudevylle@univie.ac.at

Website of the group:

bionmr.univie.ac.at