Postdoctoral Fellow – Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) (2 years) in Basel

At Roche, we believe it’s urgent to deliver medical solutions right now – even as we develop innovations for the future. We are passionate about transforming patients’ lives. We are brave in both decision and action, we believe that good business means a better world.

As an integral part of the Small Molecule Research organization in Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (Roche pRED), the computer-aided drug design (CADD) group uses computational approaches to advance drug discovery projects by facilitating decision making and designing novel, patentable, efficacious and safe medicines. We are now looking for an extraordinary, highly motivated, and talented Postdoc to join our international team in an outstanding and competitive scientific environment.

The Roche Postdoctoral Fellowship (RPF) program is aimed at supporting excellent young scientists focusing on collaborative R&D projects between Roche and international institutions. The present postdoctoral position involves a collaboration between the CADD group at Roche, Basel and the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) in Cambridge, UK. Both experts from Roche and CCDC will mentor you. You will be based mainly at the Roche campus in Basel, Switzerland with some time being spent in Cambridge including occasional travel. The position is scheduled for 24 months with a possible extension by 12 months. During the postdoctoral project, your responsibilities are but will not be limited to:

• Develop and refine computational approaches to mine experimental crystal structure data
• Apply newly developed methods large scale to interaction data sets and conduct statistical analyses on them
• Extract knowledge on molecular recognition and compile findings in reports and publications (oral and written)
• Contribute to the generation of a new software tool for advanced molecular interaction analyses

You are someone who wants to influence your own development. You are looking for a position where you have the opportunity to pursue your interests across functions and geographies. Where a job title is not considered the final definition of who you are, but the starting point.

You are highly motivated, possess well-developed communication skills, meet high scientific standards, and are fluent in English. You have completed your Ph.D. in computational chemistry, molecular modeling, cheminformatics, crystallography, or a related field (within the last 3 years). If you bring as well the following skills and competencies we are looking forward to receiving your application:

• Familiarity in analyzing protein-ligand crystal structures and good understanding of intermolecular interactions
• Well-practiced ability to mine data and automate workflows
• Good programming skills in Python (C++ knowledge is a plus)
• A strong drive to answer scientific questions and solve problems independently
• A keen interest in gaining experience in industrial drug discovery research and software development

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and curriculum vitae including publications and references.  The fellowship can start as soon as possible – please clearly indicate your preferred starting date.

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