Postdoctoral position in medicinal chemistry in Zürich

100%, Zurich, fixed-term

The Computer-Assisted Drug Design group of Prof. Gisbert Schneider at ETH Zurich is seeking a candidate for a postdoctoral position in medicinal chemistry. This position is part of an SNF Sinergia project entitled "Rational Small Molecule Inhibition of Dissemination (RaSMID) for pediatric brain tumors" and envisioned for duration of at least two years, with the option to be extended up to a total of four years.

Effective therapeutics precisely targeting the biological mechanisms that promote tumor progression are necessary for the development of efficacious anticancer therapies, in particular to restrict the metastatic spread of the tumor. The cytostatic and cytotoxic activities of existing anticancer drugs and experimental compounds have revealed additional druggable vulnerabilities in different tumors. Some of these findings are now translated into novel clinical treatment protocols for pediatric brain tumor patients. However, insufficient efficaciousness is a common problem, which may be the result of toxicity due to off-target activity or of a lack of drug specificity for the biological mechanism that is pathophysiologically relevant for tumor progression. In the RaSMID project, we will address this problem by combining rational target-based compound design and discovery with phenotypic and functional screening to identify highly specific and selective molecular leads with well-defined biophysical and biological activities.

We are an interdisciplinary research group positioned between the computational design, chemical synthesis, and experimental testing of bioactive compounds. We offer a small but fully equipped organic synthesis laboratory along with a wide are of measurement methods such HPLC/SFC and biophysical methods such as CD, SPR, DLS, DSF.

The Computer-Assisted Drug Design (CADD) group is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow for the design, chemical synthesis and analytics of low molecular weight antitumor agents, and the biophysical characterization of compound function.

The successful candidate should have long term experience in medicinal chemistry, in particular small molecule organic synthesis and analytics, as well as in the application of biophysical methods such as CD, DSF, and related label-free methods. We seek a settled and experienced personality capable of carrying out routine as well as novel experiments with constant precision. The candidate will join a newly formed research team (SNF Sinergia Consortium) distributed across three Swiss research groups. The project offers and requires strong interactions with the research of the CADD group and our extramural partners, and the willingness to work as a member of a team. Candidates should be highly motivated, self-organized, creative, display initiative, and used to thinking sideways. Excellent command of the English language is expected. The willingness to assist in the supervision of PhD candidates as well as in teaching is expected. The candidate should also be able to perform research and act as a supervisor in a work-from-home setting.

Substantial knowledge of medicinal chemistry and organic synthesis, including retrosynthesis, compound analytics and purification, and analytical spectroscopic methods is requried. Knowledge about computational drug design such as molecular modeling and machine learning is considered beneficial.

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.