Postdoctoral Position in Molecular Microbiology and Natural Products Biosynthesis

Fundacion MEDINA; Granada; Presencial; EUR 33.000 - 52.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Fundación MEDINA in Granada, Spain is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology to join the AVOGADRO grant project on glycopeptide antibiotics against drug-resistant organisms. The successful candidate will mine pathways, optimize heterologous expression, and collaborate across genetics, bioinformatics, microbiology and natural products chemistry.

Applicants should have a PhD and strong publication record, with hands-on biosynthetic gene cluster work and excellent

Formación

• PhD in molecular microbiology with post-doctoral experience and strong publications.
• Hands-on experience with cloning, assembly, refactoring and large biosynthetic gene clusters.
• Experience enabling heterologous expression and engineering of biosynthetic pathways.
• Excellent English communication and ability to work in multidisciplinary teams.
• Familiarity with natural product discovery workflows and analytical techniques (LC-MS, NMR).
• Proven ability to write reports and papers independently.

Responsabilidades

• Lead targeted pathway mining and heterologous expression of antibiotic analogs.
• Collaborate across genetics, bioinformatics, microbiology and chemistry.
• Contribute to project reporting and dissemination of results.

Conocimientos

Molecular microbiology

Bioinformatics

English communication

Team collaboration

Educación

PhD in molecular microbiology

Herramientas

LC-MS

NMR

Biosynthetic pathway tools

Descripción del empleo

A 15 months position is available for immediate incorporation of an independent and highly motivated young scientist to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology at Fundación MEDINA.

This position is associated to the Research Grant AVOGADRO “ Adapting Versatile Opportunities for Glycopeptide Antibiotics against Drug-Resistant Organisms” under the JPIAMR-Action 2024 Call IMPACT. The successful candidate will become part of a multidisciplinary team working in the field and will be responsible of the targeted pathway mining and efficient heterologous expression of antibiotic analogs.

Position requirements:

Candidates should have:

• a PhD and post-doctoral experience in molecular microbiology with a good publication record and professional references.
• Extensive hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques applied to natural product biosynthesis, including the cloning, assembly, refactoring and manipulation of large biosynthetic gene clusters from actinomycetes. Candidates should demonstrate experience with the molecular tools and strategies required to enable the heterologous expression, optimization and engineering of biosynthetic pathways in microbial hosts. The ideal applicant should be able to work easily between the disciplines of genetics, bioinformatics, microbiology and natural products chemistry.
• Excellent bioinformatic and computational skills and experience with metabolite biosynthesis, microbial physiology are desirable. Ability to work independently on its own initiative and in a team environment.
• Familiarity with natural product discovery workflows, high-throughput screening, or analytical techniques (e.g., LC-MS, NMR) is highly desirable.
• Evidence of independent writing of reports and papers.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are expected for effective interaction with our multidisciplinary research team and with collaborators
• Ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams

Applications will be considered until October 15, 2026.

Keywords: Natural products, actinomycetes, microbiology, molecular microbiology, microbial genetics, microbial physiology, metabolite biosynthesis, pathway engineering, gene expression, metagenomic analyses, bioinformatics.

Fundación MEDINA (www.medinadiscovery.com) MEDINA is located in the Health Sciences Technology Park in Granada, Spain, and operates as a private-public partnership between the Government of Andalucía, the University of Granada, and Merck Sharp & Dohme de España S.A. to discover new compounds and innovative therapies for unmet medical needs. MEDINA hosts one of the largest collections of microbial strains and highly diverse natural product libraries, supported by strong capabilities in microbiology, chemistry, high-throughput screening, and analytical chemistry. Current programs span infectious diseases, cancer, CNS, rare diseases, and translational research in biomarker discovery and metabolomics.