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ESPCI Paris PSL
The “École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris” (ESPCI Paris PSL) is a “Grande École d’Ingénieurs” with a strong international reputation for research (6 Nobel Prizes) and a member of the Université PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres). ESPCI is a highly multidisciplinary environment with teaching and research in physics, chemistry, and biology. The project will be directed by Yannick Rondelez, Andrew Griffiths and Ludwik Leibler.
Yannick Rondelez focuses on in vitro molecular systems with complex behaviors and explores two main applications : new generation diagnostic tools, and directed evolution of enzymes. Andrew Griffiths has pioneered droplet-based microfluidics to miniaturize assays and perform high-throughput experiments, including for directed evolution of enzymes. Ludwik Leibler is a world-renowned expert in polymer physical chemistry.
The project will involve three academic groups from ESPCI Paris PSL, the SPM team in the Gulliver lab (Yannick Rondelez and Ludwik Leibler), the Laboratory of Biochemistry (Andrew Griffiths) and the Soft Polymer Networks group in the Soft Matter Science and Engineering (SIMM) Laboratory (Yvette Tran and Costantino Creton). All the groups are highly multidisciplinary with people coming from background spanning physics, chemistry and biology.
Partner Company : PEI
Protein Evolution Inc. (PEI) develops proteins that address problems in the environment, climate change and healthcare. They unite proprietary technology in molecular biology, artificial intelligence, and engineering to enable a high-throughput development process not possible elsewhere.
Protein Evolution was founded by scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, who invented next generation DNA sequencing. The company benefits from being part of 4Catalyzer, an incubator of biotechnology and medical device companies (most notably, Butterfly Network, Hyperfine, and Quantum-Si) which have collectively raised over $3 billion in funding.
Job Description
Enzymes are powerful catalysts whose engineered variants find increasing use in the context of sustainable chemistry. The project aims to combine polymer physical chemistry with high-throughput screening and directed evolution of enzyme, aided by artificial intelligence, to develop efficient systems for plastic recycling based on enzymatic plastic degradation. As a post-doc, you will be integrated into a multi-disciplinary team based in Paris with close interactions with the PEI team in the USA.
We are looking to recruit up to 5 post-docs with experience in either of the following areas :
In polymer science : polymer physical chemistry and/or engineering, polymer physics. Experience in synthetic chemistry is a plus.
In the biotechnology area : protein chemistry, enzymology, protein engineering, in silico protein design, machine learning, directed evolution, microfluidics or single-molecule biophysics. Experience with cell-free expression systems is a plus.
Flexibility, autonomy, the ability to work in a highly multidisciplinary team and good interpersonal skills are essential. Postdocs will need to communicate your ideas effectively, within the group and with our collaborators.
Baseline skills/experiences/attributes :
• Ph.D. with hands-on experience in any of the areas mentioned above.
• Strong affinity for interdisciplinary projects
• Excellent organizational, analytical, communication, and presentation skills
Starting date : February 2022 (at best)
Duration : 12 months (renewable)
Salary : according to professional experience
Address your applications (CV + motivation letter) by email to :
PEI-project@espci.fr