PhD fellowship in the Virus-like particle vaccine group at the Centre for Medical parasitology

We are offering a PhD fellowship in the Virus-like particle group commencing 1 March 2024 or as soon as possible hereafter.

Our group and research
If you would like to work in a team with expertise in immunology/vaccinology - and contribute to making novel vaccines for both infectious and non-communicable diseases, this might be the job for you!

The VLP team has been spearheading the development of multiple novel vaccine platform technologies which has shown proof-of-concept in animal models and led to clinical testing in humans. Specifically, the team has currently developed two prototype VLP vaccines, which are in clinical development (a COVID-19, phase III and a HER2-cancer vaccine, phase I). The technologies exploit that vaccine antigens are presented to the immune system in the form of a virus. This simple “trick” has shown to significantly increase the immunogenicity of the vaccine antigen as well as to break the existing B-cell immune-tolerance i.e., enabling induction of auto-antibody responses.

Project description

You will join a group of highly dedicated scientists working hard to develop vaccines based on cutting-edge technologies. The team has previously developed a virus-like particle (VLP) based COVID-19 vaccine, which has shown best-in-class immunogenicity and safety in phase I/II clinical trials (now in phase III). To succeed with our ambitions, we are now looking for a new PhD-student who can help running specific projects. As part of the consortium, you will work on developing vaccines against viral pathogens with a pandemic risk. Specifically, you will express, purify and quality check each VLP vaccine e.g., by ultracentrifugation, SDS-PAGE, densitometry, dynamic light-scattering, and transmission electron microscopy.

The main responsibilities are:

• Design and execution of VLP-vaccine development/characterization experiments
• Participating in regular consortium meetings
• Data presentation
• Supporting the team management with managing/supervision of bachelor and Msc students

Principal supervisor is Professor Adam F. Sander Bertelsen, Centre for Medical parasitology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, [email protected], +45 30111529.

Start: Date 1 March 2024 (or as soon as possible thereafter)

Duration: 3 years as a PhD student

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.

• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points.
• Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team.
• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project.
• Teaching and disseminating your knowledge.
• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years).

Other important criteria are:

• The grade point average achieved.
• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
• Previous publications
• Relevant work experience
• Other professional activities
• A curious mind-set with a strong interest in vaccinology/immunology.
• Language skills

Place of employment

The place of employment is at the Centre for Medical parasitology, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and state-of-the art equipment for conducting the described research.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years. The start date is 1 March 2024 or after agreement.

The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s success­ful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

Salary, pension, and terms of employment are in accordance with the agree­ment between the Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 28,900 DKK/Roughly 3,800 EUR (October 2023 level) plus pension.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/

Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The application must include the following documents in PDF format:

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)

2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position

3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database. Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science

4. Publication list (if possible)

Application deadline: 21 November 2023, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.

Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You find information about the recruitment process at: http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicants will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

Interviews are expected to be held in week 51-3.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk