About us
Recently re-founded, the Department of Engineering is rapidly expanding into a world-class research and teaching department.
The research in the department spans a wide range of engineering areas (e.g. telecoms, robotics, information processing systems, materials science, fluid dynamics...)
About the role
I am seeking applications from highly motivated and conscientious candidates for a postdoctoral position in the group of Prof Chris Lorenz on the materials modelling of biopolymers.
The primary objectives of this project will be to apply molecular dynamics simulations to investigate:
1. spider silk in the different stages of extrusion and
2. how glycosylation affects the structural properties of mucin and mucin’s interactions with the aqueous environment.
These studies will be carried out in collaboration with various experimental groups within the UK, the USA and Europe.
The successful candidate will perform all-atom and coarse-grain classical molecular dynamics simulations to investigate these various systems. Enhanced sampling methods may be necessary for certain aspects of the studies. Additionally, the application of unsupervised learning which has been successfully applied to various systems within the group will be explored for characterising the conformations which are sampled in these different studies.
The position is based in the Department of Engineering which is located within the Strand Campus of King’s College London.
This is a full-time post (35 hours per week) and you will be offered a three year fixed term contract.
The targeted start date is the beginning of January 2025, but there is some flexibility with this date.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
1. PhD awarded (or near completion) in Materials modeling, computational biology, computational physics, computational chemistry or related subject
2. Experience in classical molecular dynamics simulations
3. Excellent skills in programming in Python and data analysis
4. Excellent communication (oral and written) skills, ability to write research reports and papers in style accessible to academic audiences
5. Track record of high-quality research publications in peer reviewed journals
6. Flexible and collaborative
7. Willingness to learn new skills
8. Ability to work independently and as part of a team
Desirable criteria
1. Experience of using classical molecular dynamics simulations to study polymers and/or biopolymers
2. Ability and interest in mentoring MSc and PhD students within the group
3. Experience in applying machine learning approaches to complement molecular dynamics simulations studies
Further Information
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
£44,105 to £51,485 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
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