Welcome...to Greifswald. Greifswald is a university city that is located on the Baltic Sea, close to tourist destinations like the islands of Rügen and Usedom. It is approximately 250 km from both Berlin and Hamburg, two metropolitan areas with some of the best recreational and cultural opportunities in Germany.
Founded in 1456, the University of Greifswald is among the oldest universities in Germany. In addition to medicine and natural sciences, it offers programs in economics, law, linguistics, and arts and music. Renowned figures such as Nobel laureate Gerhard Domagk have worked here. The university provides a wide range of sports and free time opportunities.
At the University Medicine Greifswald, we shape the future of healthcare together. We are proud of our diverse team of professionals who are passionately dedicated to excellent patient care, research, and teaching. If you want to be part of a dynamic and inspiring environment where your ideas and commitment are valued, then you are in the right place with us.
The Department of General Pharmacology is looking for a highly motivated early career researcher for the following position: The organic cation transporter OCT1 is a membrane transporter that may mediate the uptake of drugs and toxins into the liver for metabolism and elimination. OCT1 recognizes and translocates a great variety of cationic compounds. The mechanisms of this very broad substrate specificity, also referred to as polyspecificity, are poorly understood, despite newly emerging cryo-EM structures of the transporter. In this project, we aim to identify mechanisms of OCT1 polyspecificity by utilizing structural and functional differences between OCT1 orthologs and paralogs. Our group has long-lasting experience in cloning, manipulation, overexpression, and functional characterization of transporter proteins in model cells using molecular and cell biological techniques, such as site-directed mutagenesis, recombinant DNA techniques, cellular uptake experiments coupled with LC-MS/MS analytics, immunocytochemistry and many more (PMIDs 35469921, 33037045, and 31597043). We are looking for a highly motivated early career researcher to complement our team. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and should focus on differences between OCT1 orthologs and paralogs as a tool to better understand the mechanisms of polyspecificity of OCT1.
Your tasks:
Cloning of OCT1 orthologs, generation of mutants, and overexpression in HEK293 cells
Functional characterization of OCT1 orthologs using cellular uptake experiments and LC-MS/MS analytics
Detailed analyses of OCT polyspecificity regarding highly similar substrates, stereoselectivity, and computational modelling
Data analyses
Presentation of results at scientific meetings
Writing of scientific manuscripts
Master of Science or comparable degree in molecular biology, human biology, biology, pharmacy or related field
Enthusiasm and motivation to work on scientific questions and to solve problems
Experience in molecular and cell biological techniques will be of advantage
Ability to work independently as well as in a team
Very good English language skills (oral and written), basic knowledge of German will be of advantage
Structured PhD program at the University Medicine Greifswald (https://www.medizin.uni-greifswald.de/en/research-and-teaching/wissenschaftliche-graduierung/doctorate/phd-mdphd-and-dmdphd/)
Close supervision by experienced PostDoc and regular scientific exchange with the head of the department
Well-equipped laboratories and long-lasting methodological expertise within the working group
Integration into a motivated and friendly team
Weekly institute seminars with external and internal speakers
Competitive salary (TV-L E13) and occupational pension provision