Research Associate in Interactive Virtual Reality for Protein Design

The role

A postdoctoral research position is available in the group of Prof. Adrian Mulholland as part of the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Project PREDACTED (Predictive computational models for Enzyme Dynamics, Antimicrobial resistance, Catalysis and Thermoadaptation for Evolution and Design, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101021207). This project involves the application of computational chemistry and molecular simulation methods to design, model and investigate protein dynamics and activity. This project uses molecular simulations to investigate protein structure, dynamics, interactions and mechanisms (including allosteric inhibition and regulation). This includes the use of interactive virtual reality methods for molecular dynamics simulations, for molecular modelling, and for protein design and engineering. This will address important challenges associated with design, engineering and development of proteins for practical applications in biocatalysis, sensing, diagnostics, clean energy and biomolecular electronics, and in applications to understand and combat drug resistance. This project is based in the Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol. The School of Chemistry is ranked first in the UK in the latest Research Excellence Framework (Times Higher Education analysis of REF2021).

What will you be doing?

You will develop and apply interactive virtual reality methods to design and engineer proteins, and to model protein structure, dynamics and interactions. This will include developing and testing interactive virtual reality methods and interfaces to computational protein design and structure prediction tools. This will include development and application of interactive molecular dynamics simulations in virtual reality, and use of design methods based on AI and machine learning. You will develop compuaitonal methods and build models of proteins and develop and apply tools for structure prediction. You will simulate protein complexes and test effects of physical conditions on them. You will model protein dynamics and test methods for prediction of conformational changes and binding. You will predict and analyse effects of mutations, contribute to protein and inhibitor design and to the interpretation of experimental data. You will work closely with experimental biochemists and structural biologists in developing and applying interactive virtual reality and other computational methods for protein design. 

You should apply if

You are a highly motivated computational scientist looking to take the next step in your research career by joining a leading research group, develop skills in protein design, interactive virtual reality, software development, biomolecular simulation and data analysis, and the opportunity to collaborate with experiments. This position would suit a researcher who has recently completed a PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry or close to completion or related field and expertise in protein design, molecular simulation and interactive virtual reality. This project will provide excellent experience of software development, interactive VR, protein design, molecular simulation, data analysis and advanced computing, and the opportunity to work with interactive virtual reality, high performance computing and machine learning.

Additional information

Contract type: Open ended with fixed term until 30/09/26

This advert will close at 23:59 UK time on 31/07/2025

For informal queries, please contact:

Prof. Adrian Mulholland, Adrian.Mulholland@bristol.ac.uk

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