Career Opportunities: PhD student position in deep learning for enzyme structure & catalysis (22980)

About the position

Career Opportunities: PhD student position in deep learning for enzyme structure & catalysis (22980)

Requisition ID 22980 - Posted 09/16/2026 - Type of position (1) - Area of Activity (1) - Rate of Participation (1) - Faculty / Service (1) - Personnel Category (1)

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UNIL is a leading international teaching and research institution, with over 5,000 employees and 17,000 students split between its Dorigny campus, CHUV and Epalinges.

As an employer, UNIL encourages excellence, individual recognition and responsibility.

We’re looking for a PhD student to develop deep learning methods for modelling biomolecular

interactions in the context of catalysis.

structures and the binding poses of small molecules.

Enzyme catalysis presents a different challenge:

The project will investigate how protein–ligand cofolding approaches can be extended to better model

enzymes and their reactions, with a particular interest in methods that generalise across enzyme

The project will combine deep learning, protein bioinformatics, and large-scale analysis of protein

sequences, structures and biochemical data.

There will be scope to explore model development and

evaluation, representation learning, and applications to catalytic function and molecular design.

For an overview of our research interests, see pickybinders.org.

Start date in position: Earliest November 2026, by arrangement

Contract length : 1 year, renewable, maximum 5 years

Workplace : University of Lausanne, Dorigny campus

We are looking for

● A Master's degree in computer science, computational biology, bioinformatics, machine learning,

● An interest in machine learning and proteins

● Curiosity about the relationship between molecular sequence, structure and biochemical function

● Motivation to develop and pursue research ideas independently, and to learn new subjects and

Experience with deep learning, structural biology, cheminformatics, or protein bioinformatics is useful

but not required.

What the position offers you

We offer a nice working place in a multicultural, diverse and dynamic academic environment.

Opportunities for professional training, a lot of activities and other benefits to discover.

Deadline : ongoing

● a short cover letter describing your research interests, relevant experience, and why you are

interested in the project

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

• ensuring an open and respectful environment that is conducive to personal development;

• supporting early career researchers.

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What you’ll bring

• Your qualifications
• ● A Master's degree in computer science, computational biology, bioinformatics, machine learning,
• Experience with deep learning, structural biology, cheminformatics, or protein bioinformatics is useful

At a glance

Position type

PhD

Institution

University of Lausanne

Department

Not stated

Research group

Not stated

Location

Switzerland

Supervisor / contact person

Prof. Janani Durairaj

Funding

Fully funded

Duration

1 year, renewable, maximum 5 years

Expected start

Not stated

Vacancy reference

Not stated

Research focus

Discipline

Chemistry

Research area

Not stated

Methods

Not stated

Software

Python

Dates to know

Listed on FOSS Positions

17 Sep 2026

Original advertisement date

Not stated in the source

Application deadline

Open until filled

Priority review date

Not stated

Last checked

17 Sep 2026

Last updated

17 Sep 2026

Deadline : ongoing

How to apply

Your application
Please, send your full application as a single PDF document comprising:

https://career5.successfactors.eu//career?_s.crb=nE1gyXa0AXdz2%2BuJ8gEBuRJ0%2Fd6X%2F91Qd8CoI%2F5b5xc%3D&browserTimeZone=UTC&career_job_req_id=22980&career_ns=job_listing&company=universitdP&jobAlertController_jobAlertId=&jobAlertController_jobAlertName=&navBarLevel=JOB_SEARCH&rcm_site_locale=en_US&selected_lang=en_US

Contact: janani.durairaj@unil.ch

Original sources

https://career5.successfactors.eu//career?_s.crb=nE1gyXa0AXdz2%2BuJ8gEBuRJ0%2Fd6X%2F91Qd8CoI%2F5b5xc%3D&browserTimeZone=UTC&career_job_req_id=22980&career_ns=job_listing&company=universitdP&jobAlertController_jobAlertId=&jobAlertController_jobAlertName=&navBarLevel=JOB_SEARCH&rcm_site_locale=en_US&selected_lang=en_US ↗