Post-doctoral Fellow in Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology for BacPROTACs and Antimicrobial Resistance Lund University in Sweden

Post-doctoral Fellow in Organic Chemistry at Lund University, Sweden.

This postdoctoral opening sits at the interface of organic chemistry and chemical biology, with a strong focus on targeted protein degradation in bacteria. The project develops a modular chemical platform for BacPROTACs as a new strategy against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), aiming to design bifunctional molecules that recruit bacterial proteolytic machinery such as the ClpC:ClpP system to selectively degrade essential proteins in drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The work covers the full research pipeline: molecular design, multistep synthesis of degrader molecules, assay development and validation, biochemical evaluation, and microbiological testing. The successful candidate will work on target-binding ligands, tunable linkers, and protease-recruiting motifs, and will help establish and apply assays for protein degradation and antibacterial activity. The project is carried out in close collaboration with an infection biology group at Lund University, providing infection-relevant bacterial models and omics workflows.

Research areas and methods: organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, biochemical assays, recombinant protein work, microbiology, antibacterial susceptibility testing, NMR, LC-MS, HRMS, IR, chromatography, and structure–activity/structure–degradation relationship analysis.

Eligibility highlights: applicants must hold a PhD or equivalent in the relevant subject, completed within the last three years unless special circumstances apply. Strong English skills are required, along with documented experience in multistep synthesis and chemistry-biology interface experiments. Merits include assay development, PROTACs or other targeted degraders, recombinant protein handling, microbiology, proteomics/chemoproteomics/transcriptomics, medicinal chemistry, peptide chemistry, photoredox or radical chemistry, and publication experience.

Employment terms: full-time, fixed-term position for up to two years. Teaching may be included up to 20% of working hours, and the role includes three weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning. The position is located in Lund, Sweden.

How to apply: submit an English-language PDF application containing a CV with publications, a short research statement (past research and future interests, max three pages), contact details for at least two references, and copies of the doctoral degree certificate and other relevant documents. Apply via the university portal before 2026-11-16.