Two engineer positions (ingénieur.e d’études) in biochemistry – Filled

12-month fixed-term contract. Renewable. Full time. Remuneration according to Aix-Marseille-Université salary scale.

Location of the job

Laboratory Architecture and Function of Biological Macromolecules (AFMB) in Marseille (https://www.afmb.univ-mrs.fr). The AFMB lab is a structural biology center, under the joint supervision of the CNRS and Aix-Marseille University and in partnership with INRAE ​​and INSERM. It is located on the Luminy campus in Marseille and is organized into 5 research teams sharing common services and technological platforms.

Scientific context: The work will take place within the AFMB lab, on the high-throughput recombinant protein production platform ((https://tinyurl.com/ye254jad) under the direction of the manager, Dr. R. Vincentelli.

The people recruited will work on two distinct projects in which the aim is to produce, purify and characterize proteins at high throughput.

Project 1: ANR project; Full-PDZ-PBM HPVE6 on the high-throughput production and determination of the affinity of human PDZ domains for their partner pbms (PDZ binding motifs).

Project 2: CAZAI project funded by the Novo Nordisk foundation aiming to produce and purify enzymes (CAZymes) for their biochemical characterizations.

Missions and activities

• Expression of the proteins in E. coli and purification by high-throughput methods on a Tecan robot and on an AKTA system.

• Ensure quality control of proteins by UPLC-MS.

• Implement, optimize, validate these protocols; identify potential problems.

• Use and present the results of the analyses, guarantee their monitoring and quality.

• Write experiment or study reports, technical notes, laboratory notebooks as well as progress reports.

• Manage and organize technical resources as part of a scientific project.

• Ensure the day-to-day management and maintenance of the machine park, stock of necessary materials and reagents, obtain quotes and order products in conjunction with the secretarial/manager team.

• Ensure the application of hygiene and safety principles and rules.

• Participate in the dissemination and promotion of results in the form of oral presentations and publications.

Skills

• Bac+5 training or equivalent.

• Interest in automated processes and high throughput.

o The recruited person will be trained on the Tecan automation systems and on the laboratory’s UPLC-MS (Waters) but knowledge of these systems would be a plus.

• Have theoretical and practical knowledge for the main techniques:

o Expression and production of proteins in Escherichia coli

o Protein biochemistry: purification by liquid chromatography (IMAC, affinity, ion exchange, gel filtration, etc.) on an automated device such as Tecan, Labchip GXII, AKTA, HPLC/UPLC.

• Oral and written communication in English (level B1 to C1).

Personal qualities

• Experimental rigor, sense of organization.

o Ability to adapt and autonomy.

o Relational skills, ability to work in a team.

o Interest in multidisciplinarity.

Position to be filled: from January/February 2025.

Please send your application file (detailed CV + cover letter + people to contact for recommendations) by email in PDF format to Renaud Vincentelli (renaud.vincentelli@univ-amu.fr) with the subject: IE position application – project PDZ or CAZAI project (or both).