The theoretical chemistry group (https://icr-amu.cnrs.fr/tctnew) in Institut de Chimie Radicalaire, Marseille, France, is looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral candidate willing to develop and apply a new QM/MM model for biomolecular systems in complex media. Specifically, the hired researcher will extend our currently developed QM/MM interface to periodic boundary conditions using Ewald sums-based methods available in the Tinker package. In a nutshell the project aims at implementing the calculation of the MM electrostatic potential, as well as its first and second derivatives at each QM center. Applications will consider biomolecules like solvent and/or membrane-embedded rhodopsin, luciferase and cryptochrome proteins, already studied in the group. Computed properties will comprise transition states in QM/MM free energy surfaces, QM/MM protein full IR spectra, vibrationally-resolved electronic excitation/emission spectra of embedded chromophores, hence definitively extending the range of QM/MM applications in terms of properties and system size.
Because of the relatively short project duration, the position is ideally suited for a researcher who is waiting for his/her own grant/job application results. The hired researcher is expected to be proficient in molecular mechanics development, specifically in electrostatic interactions based on Ewald sums. Good knowledge of the Tinker infrastructure is definitively a plus. The position will remain open until the ideal candidate is found. The 6 to 8 months long contract can immediately start, however not later than January 1st, 2021, and cannot extend after October 31st, 2021. The gross salary is ~2500 EUR/month, depending on the researcher experience.
The largest multidisciplinary French-speaking university, Aix-Marseille University (AMU) welcomes 80,000 students and nearly 8,000 staff on 5 large campuses of international standards. Known as an «intensive research university», it is home to 121 research structures linked to major national research organizations. Widely open to the world with 10,000 international students and more than 40 diplomas in international partnerships, AMU has been recently the winner of the European Commission’s call for projects to build with its 7 European partners «CIVIS, a European Civic University”.
Interested applicants will contact Prof. Nicolas Ferré (nicolas.ferre@univ-amu.fr) or Dr. Miquel Huix-Rotllant (miquel.huix-rotllant@univ-amu.fr) and provide a CV, a motivation letter and at least two contacts for possible references.
Université Aix-Marseille, France
Institut de Chimie Radicalaire
Directeur Centre de Calcul Intensif d’Aix-Marseille
Tel : +33 413945889/+33 615995320
GEFAM 