PhD: Engineered 2A Peptides for Biotech

University of Cambridge; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Cambridge invites applications for a 4-year PhD studentship starting 1 October 2027 in the Department of Pathology, with the AstraZeneca Discovery Centre at Cambridge. The project focuses on manipulating peptide-bond skipping sequences (2A) for protein engineering, with supervision by Prof. Andrew Firth and Dr.

Giovanni Ciotta. The student will work across two sites, gaining exposure to molecular biology, ribosome profiling, and bioinformatics.

Qualifications

• Applicants should have or expect to obtain a UK degree in Biochemistry, Microbiology, Cell Biology or Genetics.
• Applicants must meet language requirements for admission as part of the University's entrance criteria.

Responsibilities

• PhD project will contribute to investigating new 2A sequences and optimising them for biotechnological applications.
• Collaborative project supervised by Prof. Andrew Firth (University of Cambridge) and Dr Giovanni Ciotta (AstraZeneca).
• Work across the Cambridge and AstraZeneca sites and opportunities to gain bioinformatics and potential structural biology experience.

Education

First or upper second-class degree in Biochemistry / Microbiology / Cell Biology / Genetics

Job description

University of Cambridge invites applications for a 4-year PhD studentship starting 1 October 2027 in the Department of Pathology, with the AstraZeneca Discovery Centre at Cambridge. The project focuses on manipulating peptide-bond skipping sequences (2A) for protein engineering, with supervision by Prof. Andrew Firth and Dr.

Giovanni Ciotta. The student will work across two sites, gaining exposure to molecular biology, ribosome profiling, and bioinformatics.