These positions are provided by PROHITS, a European MSCA Doctoral Network project. The interdisciplinary research aim of PROHITS is the integration of experimental and computational approaches that can resolve the proteome of prokaryotes at single cell level, and at a range of temperatures, in order to improve our understanding of thermophile biology and to guide the optimized design of cell factories. The project will involve the development of microfluidics, mass spectrometry (MS) and associated bioinformatics to handle single prokaryotic cells, as well as MS-based thermal proteome profiling (TPP) to study the thermal response of the proteome of thermophiles. These data will be used to understand the in vivo thermal stability of proteins, and create genome-scale models of thermophiles to optimize them as cell factories.

PROHITS is a collaborative project between eleven participant organisations from six countries, including both academia and biotech industry, that will offer a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary structured curriculum for doctoral students. 10 fellowships (for DCs, Doctoral Candidates) are available in the areas of microfluidics, mass spectrometry, synthetic biology, bioinformatics and genome modelling:

• DC1: Prediction and interpretation of thermophilic proteins (Computational, VUB, Brussels, Belgium)
• DC2: Thermophilic prokaryotes cultivation and biology (Experimental, VUB, Brussels, Belgium)
• DC3: Single prokaryote cell MS data analysis (Computational, VIB, Gent, Belgium)
• DC4: MS Thermal Proteome Profiling (TPP) data analysis/visualisation (Computational, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway)
• DC5: Genome scale network models (Computational, University Vienna, Vienna, Austria)
• DC6: Thermal proteome profiling of thermophilic bacteria (Experimental, CNRS, Strasbourg, France)
• DC7: MS methods development for thermal proteome profiling and single cell analysis (Experimental, CNRS, Strasbourg, France)
• DC8: Optimisation of cell factories (Experimental, NovoArc, Vienna, Austria)
• DC9: Microfluidics cell separation and MS integration (Experimental, Cellenion, Lyon, France)
• DC10: Optimisation of sample preparation and examination of the thermal response of selected thermophilic organisms (Experimental, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary)

Candidates must be in possession of a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in chemistry, biochemistry, physical, life or biomedical sciences, or computational or mathematical sciences as requested in the skills and experience of the respective DC description, enabling them to enroll in a Doctoral Programme by the recruitment date. The candidate must not have resided or carried her/his main activity (studies, work, etc.) at the country of recruitment for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately prior to the recruitment date. The candidate must not hold a Doctoral degree by the time of recruitment date (i.e. by the start of the contract).

Applications must be submitted online in English following the instructions and respecting the conditions at https://bit.ly/prohits. The deadline for applications was 15/03/2024 at 23:59 (CET)

Further general information about the PROHITS project: http://prohits.eu

ADDENDUM

The DC positions will be fully funded for a period of 3 years via the standard Marie Curie allowances (if needed, the 4th year will be covered locally according to the common national rates). All DCs will receive a mobility allowance (600€, monthly gross) and a country-adjusted living allowance*. DCs that are married (or have an equivalent status as recognized by their country of origin) and/or have kids will be eligible to receive a family allowance of 660€, monthly gross.

*The country-adjusted living allowance before all the compulsory deductions under national legislation can be found below. Note that the provided figures are estimated and can vary based on local deduction schemes. Selected candidates will be provided with the detailed information during the selection process.

• Belgium: 3400€, monthly gross
• Norway: 4375.8€, monthly gross
• Austria: 3614.2€, monthly gross
• France: 3957.6€, monthly gross
• Hungary: 2448€, monthly gross