Monica Fernández-Quintero

PhD fellowship opportunity at the University of Copenhagen within the Novo Nordisk Foundation Initiative for Vaccines and Immunity (NIVI) , focused on structural biology , computational protein design , vaccine development , and immunology . The project sits in an interdisciplinary research environment at NIVI-R, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. The research group develops computational and structure-guided approaches to understand immune recognition and design next-generation vaccines against respiratory pathogens and infectious diseases. Methods mentioned include RFdiffusion, ProteinMPNN, AlphaFold, Chai, cryo-EM, cryo-EMPEM, molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning, and structural biology workflows. The successful candidate will work on vaccine antigen and immunogen design, including conserved B-cell and T-cell epitopes, de novo protein scaffolds, nanoparticles, multivalent immunogens, and antibody-antigen interaction analysis. The exact project will be tailored to the candidate’s interests and background. This call includes a 6-month Research Assistant position and a 3-year PhD fellowship , starting 15 September 2026 or soon thereafter. The PhD employment is conditional on successful enrolment at the University of Copenhagen Graduate School. Eligibility highlights: applicants should hold a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish two-year master’s degree in a related field. The assessment also considers GPA, relevant qualifications, publications, work experience, other professional activities, strong interest in protein design and structural biology, and language skills. Application deadline: 7 July 2026, 23:59 CET . Apply electronically through the university portal and upload a motivated letter, CV, certified MSc diploma and transcript, and publication list if available.