[gmx-users] open positions

[Gerrit Groenhof]

Dear all,

I would greatly appreciate if you could bring this to the attention of
those who might be interested.

The computational biomolecular chemistry group at the
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany,
is currently looking for phd students and postdocs, who are interested
in applying computer simulation to discover the mechanisms of
biochemical processes. Please visit our website for more information
(http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~ggroenh/).

The group's main objective is to acquire a detailed understanding of
how proteins regulate chemical reactions, and, in collaboration with
experimental partners, to use these insights to create new devices
that can mimic biological function.

In one of the projects we use computer simulations to design mutants
of photoactive proteins that alter the original function. As a proof
of principle we will first try to changing a photoreceptor, such as
retinal, into a fluorescent protein. In additon we will also focus on
artificial devices that can convert light to action.

In the simulations, quantum mechanics (QM) is used to model electronic
rearrangements in those parts of the system involved in the
reaction. For the remainder, typically consisting of the apoprotein
and the solvent, a simple forcefield model (MM) suffices. QM/MM
gradients are computed at every step of the MD simulation. We have
demonstrated the validity of hybrid QM/MM approaches for
photobiological reactions in recent applications on photoactivation of
photoreceptor proteins, on photo-switching of fluorescent proteins and
on benign and malign photochemical reactions in DNA.

We are looking for motivated candidates with a background in physics
or physical chemistry, who are interested in biological chemistry. Any
experience with quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, and/or computer
programming would be great.

If you are interested in joining our group, please send a short
motivation letter and a cv with contact details of one or two
references, preferably by email, to ggroenh at gwdg.de.

Kind regards,

Gerrit

--

Gerrit Groenhof
Biomolecular computional chemistry
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry,
D-37077 Goettingen
Germany
tel. +49(0)551-2012321
fax. +49(0)551-2012302
http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~ggroenh/