As part of the PhD program Scientists4Future Slovenia, which is the recipient of the Horizon Europe Marie Sklodowska Curie Seal of Excellence, and the Janko Jamnik Doctoral Scholarship, the National Institute of Chemistry will employ, host and train 25 PhD candidates who will study for 4 years in good working conditions.
Among those, there is the possibility to do a PhD in the group of Professor Gregor Anderluh on the characterization of protein nanopores (Department for molecular biology and nanobiotechnology). The research topic will aim for finding new types of pore forming proteins and toxins that could have beneficial properties for various sensing applications.
The reason why the topic is innovative:
Use of protein nanopores in sensing is becoming an important analytical approach for the detection of various molecules. Novel types of pores are crucially needed to expand the potential of this technology for various applications. The development and engineering of novel nanopores will significantly advance the field of macromolecular sensing.
Research techniques used:
Mining of databases and bioinformatics approaches will be used to search for novel interesting types of pore forming proteins and toxins. The experimental research techniques that will be used will be biochemical (engineering, preparation and biochemical characterization of proteins), biophysical (measurements of activity of nanopores by using planar lipid bilayers and other approaches) and structural (for example cryo electron microscopy to analyze structures of pores).
Interested candidates may contact gregor.anderluh@ki.si
