Dear all, Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position, funded by the Royal Society, for up to 30 months to work with Dr Jon Agirre in the Department of Chemistry. The successful applicant will join a vibrant team of researchers at the heart of the world-leading York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL). The work of the laboratory over the years has included the delivery of world-leading methods and experimental discoveries, training and nurturing hundreds of outstanding scientists in the process. Role The AlphaFold software for protein model prediction has revolutionised workflows in structural biology. However, while high-accuracy models are now available for most human proteins of medical relevance, up to 50% of those proteins are expected to be glycosylated – a modification whose structure AlphaFold does not predict. Protein glycosylation is greatly important, with implications for protein folding and molecular recognition including, as evidenced by the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2, viral infection. In collaboration with other scientists, we have extended the Privateer software to interactively build missing glycosylation onto precalculated AlphaFold models. In parallel, we have developed analyses that allow us to get a clear picture of glycans and their interactions, including H-bonds and XH-Pi interactions. We expect that these methods will enable us to, based on existing glycobiological knowledge, extend the Privateer software to automatically complete AlphaFold models with crucial missing glycosylation components. We are seeking a person with an interest in both biology and coding, who can collaborate with others in a very diverse team with a mission to further our knowledge of glycobiology and seize the opportunities presented by a deeper understanding of it. Main duties and responsibilities To develop and extend the Privateer software to complete AlphaFold models with the missing glycan components. To further our existing collaborations with CCP4, CCP-EM, PDB-REDO, the Protein Data Bank and the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. Department The Department of Chemistry is one of the largest and most successful departments at York and we are renowned internationally for our research. As a department, we strive to provide a working environment that allows all staff and students to contribute fully, to flourish, and to excel. We are proud of our Athena Swan Gold Award. The Department of Chemistry values all employees for the qualities and skills they bring to the workplace and aims to be a diverse and egalitarian community in which all can thrive. For informal enquiries: please contact Dr Jon Agirre, [email protected] To apply: https://jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/research-associate-529961.html Deadline for applications: 20 August 2023. Many thanks for making it this far in the advert! With best wishes, Jon -- Dr Jon Agirre Royal Society University Research Fellow (assistant professor) CCP4 WG2 co-chair | instruct-ERIC representative @ 3D-Bioinfo SC (Elixir) York Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry University of York, Heslington, YO10 5DD, York, UK