Postdoctoral research fellowship – Visualization of hydrogen atoms in carbohydrate binding proteins

Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) - operates Europe‘s leading research facility for basic research with neutrons in Grenoble (France). The passion for progress and technology unites us and makes innovation in science and research possible every day. Let‘s work together to change our society and our world for the better.

We are offering a 3-year full-time postdoctoral research fellowship focused on advancing structural biology through single-crystal neutron diffraction techniques. This position focuses on visualizing critical hydrogen atoms in carbohydrate-binding proteins and their complexes using neutron diffraction along with complementary structural biology methods.

The successful fellow will work at the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) to develop and apply cutting-edge neutron crystallography approaches. The researcher will collaborate closely with Dr. Matthew Blakeley from the Large-Scale Structures group, who is responsible for the neutron macromolecular crystallography beamlines LADI and DALI at ILL.

Candidates must submit a research plan (3-5 pages, maximum 10 pages) directly related to this research topic, outlining work to be conducted during the fellowship period.

This research fellow position is part of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND research project AMBER, Advanced Multiscale Biological imaging using European Research infrastructures, which aims to address scientific and sectoral gaps in biological imaging ranging from molecular, through cellular, to tissue, organ and organism levels of organisation, and is coordinated by the LINXS Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science. Around 15 postdocs will be recruited in the fifth call 2026, with each fellowship lasting 36 months.

The interviews will start in April/May 2026. For more information about AMBER, application and evaluation process etc please visit: ambercofund.eu

Context
This 3-year research fellowship is part of the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND research project AMBER, Advanced Multiscale Biological imaging using European Research infrastructures. This project will address scientific and sectoral gaps in biological imaging ranging from molecular, through cellular, tissue, organ and organism levels of organisation, and is coordinated by the LINXS Institute of advanced Neutron and X-ray Science.
AMBER has six core partners: Lund University/MAX IV, Sweden, the European Spallation Source (ESS), Sweden, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), France, the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines, (IMOL), Poland, and the Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, United Kingdom. For more information about AMBER.

Description of the Project
Protein-carbohydrate interactions are involved in the first step of many infectious processes. Many pathogens (bacteria, viruses and fungi) recognize sugar epitopes present in glycolipids and glycoproteins on host tissue as the first step of infection. On the other hand, many human lectins such as the ones of the dendritic cells, recognize fragments of bacterial cell wall polysaccharide as the first stage of the innate immunity process. A detailed structural knowledge of the interactions may serve as the basis for the design of new inhibitors that could act as alternative strategies to antibiotic treatment in some infections. This call is for a 3-year full-time research fellowship project, focused on using single-crystal neutron diffraction techniques in combination with other structural biology techniques, in order to visualize important hydrogen atoms in carbohydrate-binding proteins and their complexes. At the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), the world’s most powerful steady state neutron source, advanced beamlines for neutron crystallography are available (LADI and DALI) along with dedicated laboratories for the production of fully deuterated proteins (D-Lab).

Researchers from the Glyco Alps network at the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) and Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales (CERMAV) have expertise in production of recombinant human and microbial lectins, respectively. In addition, certain saccharides (and their analogs) can be produced in deuterated form via a synthetic biology approach, in collaboration with CERMAV (see Gajdos et al., 2021, Glycobiology 31, 151; Gajdos et al., Nat. Commun. 13, 194). Moreover, the Partnership for Structural Biology (PSB) on the European Photon and Neutron (EPN) Science campus provides a unique environment for state-of-the-art integrated structural biology with access to many technical platforms for sample production, biophysical characterization and structure determination.
Your work at the ILL will focus on using single-crystal neutron diffraction techniques in combination with other structural biology techniques, in order to visualize important hydrogen atoms in carbohydrate-binding proteins and their complexes.

Name and working place of the Principal investigator
Matthew Blakeley, Large-Scale Structures group, Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France, is responsible for the neutron macromolecular crystallography beamlines LADI and DALI. His research uses single-crystal neutron diffraction in combination with other structural biology techniques for studies of biological macromolecular structure and function, typically health/disease related and with a particular focus on structure-based drug design.

Minimum requirements
• PhD in structural biology/chemistry, with excellent knowledge of biochemistry and molecular biology, including experience in protein expression, purification and crystal growth. Researchers must be in possession of a doctoral degree at the deadline of the co-funded programme's call. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis with no major modifications but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered as postdoctoral researchers and will be considered eligible to apply.
• Applicants need to have a maximum 8 years after a doctoral degree (PhD), as required by the Commission, in accordance with the MSCA rules.
• At least one original publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
• A complete application package submitted through the AMBER portal (including CV and detailed research plan).
• Strict compliance with the MSCA mobility rule that the researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the host organisation's country for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the call deadline.
• Applicants should be fluent in English, have good communication skills and should demonstrate their ability to develop and conduct high-quality research, both in a team and independently.
• Additional expertise for the position: experience in neutron and X-ray single-crystal diffraction techniques (data collection, data reduction/structural refinement) and knowledge of programming languages, such as Python, would be desirable.

Each project will have additional specific requirements that candidates have to fulfill, be sure to check what these are before you apply.

As a research fellow at the AMBER programme, you will acquire unprecedented medical, biological, and methodological capabilities, with a profound potential impact for Europe’s next generation of research and researchers. When you have completed the AMBER programme, you will be extraordinarily well equipped to further your career in academia, at infrastructures, in the health and MedTech sectors, and beyond. Your work may include technique development work aimed at combining imaging techniques and data analysis to provide a more integrated picture of life processes in the context of health and disease.
For more information about the total announced post-doctoral positions within in the AMBER co-fund project please visit https://www.euraxess.se/jobs/392999