Post-doctoral position in drug development at Westermarck laboratory/Turku Bioscience Centre

Academic Positions; Finland; On-site; EUR 41,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

The Turku Bioscience Centre at the University of Turku, Finland, invites applications for a fixed-term post-doctoral fellowship. The project evaluates the therapeutic potential of targeting CIP2A, a central pathogenic protein, in cancer and other diseases, with a focus on protein chemistry and structural biology approaches.

We seek a highly motivated candidate with solid hands-on protein chemistry and/or structural biology experience, and first-author publications.

Qualifications

• Solid hands-on experience on protein chemistry and protein interaction technologies
• First author publication directly related to the field of this application

Skills

Protein chemistry

Protein interaction technologies

Structural biology

Small molecule targeting

High throughput screening

Computational structural analysis

Team-working

Communication skills

Job description

Organisation/Company University of Turku Research Field Biological sciences » Other Chemistry » Biochemistry Chemistry » Other Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 15 Oct 2026 - 13:00 (UTC) Country Finland Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

redirePost-doctoral position is available in the laboratory of Professor Jukka Westermarck at the Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland ( https://bioscience.fi/research/cancer-cell-signaling/profile/ ). The project is focused on evaluating therapeutic potential of targeting of PP2A inhibitor protein CIP2A that has central pathogenic role in certain uncurable cancer types (PMID: 37793965, 37829116), but also in other diseases. Recent advancements by us have revealed very exciting opportunities for direct targeting of CIP2A (PMID: 36854761). We are now searching for a highly motivated post-doctoral fellow with solid previous experience on protein chemistry, structural biology and/or small molecule targeting to explore therapeutic potential of these novel findings.

Turku Bioscience is a top-quality research center harboring several distinguished research groups and excellent core facilities ( https://bioscience.fi/services/ ). The entire biomedical campus harbors more than 100 research groups including a strong cancer research community. The working language is English, and University of Turku has comprehensive welcome services for the newcomers: https://www.utu.fi/en/university/for-visitors . Turku is a charming medieval city in South-West coast of the world´s happiest country Finland with good connections to Helsinki and Stockholm.

Candidate requirements

• Solid hands-on experience on protein chemistry and protein interaction technologies
• First author publication directly related to the field of this application

Preferrable technical competencies and other qualities

• Experience on small molecule development
• Experience on high throughput screening
• Experience on structural biology methods and computational structural analysis
• Good team-working and communication skills

This is a fixed-term position and it begins on 1.1.2027 or as agreed. It then continues until end of project on 31.12.2029.

The salary is determined in accordance with the university salary system for teaching and research personnel and is based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience. The salary for a Postdoctoral Researcher is placed at job requirement level OV05, while the salary for a Project Researcher is placed at job requirement level OV04. In addition, a personal performance-based salary component is paid. At the beginning of the employment, the gross monthly salary of a Postdoctoral Researcher is typically approximately EUR 3 700– 4 000, depending on previous experience and expertise. The final salary will be determined when the employment contract is prepared. If the selected candidate has not yet officially completed their doctoral degree (original certificate required), they may initially be appointed as a Project Researcher for a fixed term of one year. In this case, the gross monthly salary will typically be approximately EUR 3,200–3,300.

A six (6) month trial period applies to the position.