From owner-chemistry@ccl.net Tue Aug 2 10:19:33 2005 From: "CCL" To: CCL Subject: CCL: PhD position in Computational Chemistry, Lyon (Fr) Message-Id: <-28942-050802101644-24793-ETc9kVj+VqHwexQEb/3djg(~)server.ccl.net> X-Original-From: Paul Fleurat-Lessard Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed MIME-Version: 1.0 Sent to CCL by: Paul Fleurat-Lessard Dear Sir, [This has also been sent to the jobs(~)ccl] A PhD position will be available in Computational Chemistry applied to Mechanistic Biochemistry at the Chemistry Department of the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon (France). This three-year position is funded by the Rhones-Alpes region. The net salary is approximately 1300€/month. The position should be assumed by October 1st, 2005. The student will participate in the theoretical study of aspartic protease inhibition. Numerous examples of this class of enzymes are operative in human disease; i.e. Alzheimer or AIDS. The theoretical study is to be carried out in close collaboration with the BioOrganic Chemistry group (Pr. J. Hasserodt) of the Chemistry department. The fundamental feature of their approach is the use of a weak interaction to generate a transition-state mimic that faithfully reproduces the steric and electronic nature of the excited state of the targeted catalyzed reaction; such a strategy has the strong potential to lead to the discovery of more efficient inhibitors/drugs. In a first phase, quantum methods will be applied to simple models of the inhibitor and of the enzyme to understand the nature of this weak interaction. In a second phase, these results will be used in hybrid Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) and Molecular Mechanics studies of realistic models. This aspect of the project will be studied in collaboration with M. Field (IBS, Grenoble, France). The applicant should have a solid background in Physical Chemistry, and a strong interest in Theoretical/Computational Chemistry. To apply, please send an email describing your research interests, together with a CV, including the names of two referees to Paul.Fleurat-Lessard(~)ens-lyon.fr, or any of the contact persons below. Contact persons: * Paul Fleurat-Lessard Paul.Fleurat-Lessard(~)ens-lyon.fr * Philippe Sautet Philippe.Sautet(~)ens-lyon.fr * Jens Hasserodt Jens.Hasserodt(~)ens-lyon.fr Webpage: http://www.ens-lyon.fr/CHIMIE/Fr/Groupes/page_groupe_bio_orga/ANG/recherche/AG.htm -- Fleurat-Lessard Paul, Lecturer e-mail: Paul.Fleurat-Lessard(~)ens-lyon.fr Laboratoire de Chimie Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon Tel: + 33 (0)4 72 72 81 54 46, Allée d'Italie Fax: + 33 (0)4 72 72 88 60 69364 Lyon Cedex 07 Si vous ne pouvez expliquer un concept à un enfant de six ans, c'est que vous ne le comprenez pas complètement. Albert Einstein