PhD student – Dr Abdelhalim Azzi’s group – ReMedy
The International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines (IMol) Polish Academy of Sciences, was constituted in December 2020, in partnership with University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany and University of Warsaw, Poland.
IMol has been established to conduct scientific research and provide training in the fields of biological, chemical, medical, biotechnological, bioinformatics, biophysical, pharmacological, and similar sciences, in the international environment conducive to collaborative efforts, research and development interactions with biotechnological industry, and wide dissemination of our results.
Currently, IMol is seeking highly motivated candidates for a position of: PhD student
Job type (employment contract/stipend): Full-time position, stipend/contract
Remuneration/stipend amount/month: 4000,00 – 4200,00 PLN net/month
Position starts on: 1st of February 2023
The maximum period of contract/stipend agreement: 30.04.2023 with the possibility of extension
Application deadline: 22.01.2023
Institution: „ReMedy” International Research Agenda Unit, IMol PAS
Project leader: Agnieszka Chacińska and Magda Konarska, Directors of ReMedy
Project title: “Regenerative Mechanisms for Health”
Subproject: “Phosphoinositide signaling”
Laboratory of Lipids and Chronobiology, Head: Abdelhalim Azzi
Description: Our group is interested in understanding the role of phosphoinositide signaling in regulation of circadian physiology.
Light dark cycle is the most extensive environmental changes to which earth is daily exposed. To adapt to these changes, organisms developed an internal molecular clock that predicts and measures the time “circadian clock”. This clock is made up of several genes that encode different proteins. These proteins cooperate together to regulate several biological and physiological processes such as sleep/wake cycle, hormone synthesis and release, metabolism, etc. Indeed, in the liver several biochemical reactions follow a very precise timing.
Recent studies in mice and humans have shown that the level of many metabolites are markedly changing with the time of day (Circadian). Interestingly, the most circadian metabolites that were observed in the liver are lipids, among which phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns). Phosphatidylinositol can be respectively phosphorylated or dephosphorylated on the inositol ring by a series of kinases and phosphatases to produce seven distinct phosphoinositides (PIs).
The main aim of our research is to examine how daily spatiotemporal dynamics of the enzymes that modulates levels and modifications of PIs affects circadian carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. We plan to use several approaches such as immunofluorescence, next generation deep sequencing of the entire transcriptome, quantitative real time PCR and western blotting, etc.
For informal enquiries, please contact: Dr Abdelhalim Azzi – a.azzi@imol.institute
For further reading please see:
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/physrev.00028.2012
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00682/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5501165/
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8400
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27907247/
Benefits
We offer:
- Work in a young, active, team in an excellent scientific environment
- Comprehensive training in genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology
- Access to the state of the art equipment and facilities
- Participation in courses and conferences
Website for additional job details
Key responsibilities include
- Study the role of phosphoinositide kinase/phosphatase in the regulation of circadian clock.
- Work with RNA including isolation, cDNA preparation and real-time PCR.
- Protein expression analysis using western blotting.
- Immunofluorescence staining of lipids in fixed cells and liver tissues sections.
- Molecular cloning, mutagenesis and gene overexpression/silencing by retro or lenti-viral transduction, siRNA and shRNA cloning vectors.
- Actively participate in experiments design, data analysis and manuscript writing.
Skills/Qualifications
Profile of candidates/requirements:
- MSc degree (or equivalent) in biochemistry, biology, molecular biology or any related field of life sciences.
- Strong motivation, enthusiasm and flexibility.
- Prior experience in standard molecular biology/biochemistry techniques and mammalian tissue culture is expected.
- Ability to work both independently and as a part of a team.
- Candidates should have strong communicative skills (fluent spoken and written English), Polish is a plus.
- Enjoy working in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment.
- Experience with in vivo models such as mice is highly appreciated.
Selection process:
Required documents (in English):
- Curriculum Vitae
- A support statement (max 2 pages) outlining the motivation for this position
- Two reference letters
- Degree Transcripts to date
Please submit the following documents merged into one pdf file by filling out the following form: https://forms.gle/PZDUmCxSYAGvU2KM7
We will contact selected candidates only.
To allow us to process your data, please include the following statement in your application:
“I hereby consent to have my personal data processed by the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines Polish Academy of Sciences, with its registered office at ul. Flisa 6, 02-247 Warszawa, for the purpose of carrying out a recruitment process and I agree for a transfer of provided data to any entity responsible for the implementation of ReMedy project. I have been informed of my rights and duties. I understand that provision of my personal data is voluntary.”
In accordance with Article 13 of REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data – general regulation on data protection (Official Journal of the EU L 119/1 of 4 May 2016) the IMol informs that: the administrator of your personal data is The International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines Polish Academy of Science, with its registered office at ul. Flisa 6, 02-247 Warszawa, e-mail: welcome@imol.institute; The Administrator has designated the Data Protection Officer who supervises the processing of personal data, and who can be contacted via the following e-mail address: welcome@imol.institute; Your personal data will be processed for the purpose of carrying out a recruitment process and selecting an employee and concluding a contract for employment at the IMol; The provided data will be processed pursuant to Article 22(1) § 1 of the Act of 26 June 1974 Labour Code (uniformed text: Dz.U. of 2018, item 917) and your consent for processing of personal data; Provision of data in the scope stipulated in the Labour Code is mandatory (this is: name(s) and surname, parents’ first names, date of birth, address of residence, correspondence address, education, previous employment); The remaining data are processed according to your consent for processing of personal data; The data will not be shared with any external entities, except for the cases provided for by law; The data will be stored until you withdraw your consent for processing of personal data; You have the right to access your personal data, rectify, erase, restrict its processing and to withdraw the consent at any time – the withdrawal of consent to processing data should be done in written form, acceptably by e-mail sent to welcome@imol.institute; You have the right to lodge a complaint to the President of the Office for the Protection of PersonalData; Your application will be archived and stored for auditing purposes; The name of the selected candidate/s will be made public on the IMol website in accordance with the requirements of the funding agency.
