Post-doctoral researcher in molecular modeling

Career Opportunities: Post-doctoral researcher in molecular modeling (30191)

Requisition ID30191-Posted13/08/2026-Research staff-100%-Faculty of Engineering and Architecture-EA06 - Electronics and information systems

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15,000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities. With its 11 faculties and more than 80 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

YOUR TASKS

Within the framework of the ERC Consolidator Grant “PASTIME”, we are seeking a post-doctoral researcher in computational physics. The ERC consolidator grant is amongst the most prestigious and competitive funding schemes of the European Union, providing the opportunity to tackle a fundamental research problem collectively in a team. The post-doc will join the BioMMedA group to perform theoretical and computational research using simulations at the molecular scale.

In the PASTIME project, we develop new methodologies to study the kinetics of molecular processes, such as drug transport. Since experiments often are too expensive or lack sufficient detail, molecular simulations can give insight in the dynamics of drug binding to proteins, or the permeation kinetics of those drug molecules through membranes. While such computational methodologies exist, new fundamental developments are needed to understand the ‘time’ aspects and to make the computations feasible with present-day computer power.

Topic: One main goal for the post-doc is to extend the path sampling methodology to incorporate nonequilibrium kinetics, which is especially relevant for understanding cell death caused by a photoporation treatment, as well as powerful for increasing sampling efficiency with alchemical transformations between quantum mechanical, all-atom classical, and coarse-grained representations.

Other aspects the post-doc could collaborate on with other members in the group are:

• Developing new methods for simulations of drug transport through cell membranes, building up from membrane permeability calculations, for instance by reducing memory in the simulations.
• Developing new methods for screening of the binding kinetics of candidate cancer drugs to protein binding sites, with application in precision medicine, where drugs are tailored to the specific DNA of the patient.

Group: The researcher will be embedded in the Biophysical Models for Medical Applications (BioMMedA, https://biommeda.ugent.be ) research group, which creates a motivating environment to perform research. BioMMedA is part of the recently founded Institute of Biomedical Engineering (iBME), which is a hub of physicists, chemists, medical doctors, biologists, and engineers working on biomedical research questions. You will have access to state-of-the‑art research infrastructure at the Flemish High‑Performance Computing Centre (VSC), allowing for high‑level scientific training at a top‑ranked university.

The post‑doctoral fellow will work under the supervision of Prof. An Ghysels. A contribution to teaching can also be part of the job content. This research is performed in close collaboration with international groups (e.g. the group of Prof. Titus van Erp at NTNU in Trondheim, Norway). Locally, collaborations within the Cancer Research Institute Ghent network (CRIG, Ghent, Belgium) are encouraged, especially for experimental validation of the research results, and international collaborations with other research groups are also possible.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• You hold a PhD degree in the field computational physics (or related field) or will have defended your PhD thesis before starting the post-doc position.
• You have excellent theoretical skills in physics/mathematics (for method development) and you enjoy abstract thinking.
• You are already skilled in algorithms, scientific programming, data analysis, and dealing with large data (computational tools for generating and analyzing data of complex molecular systems), for instance with Python (or equivalent).
• Ideally, you have also knowledge in statistical physics, biophysics or material physics, programming, scientific communication. Ideally, you have already extended experience with molecular simulations. Knowledge of biology or chemistry is a strong point, but not a requirement.
• You have a problem‑solving, analytical mind, dedicated to overcoming technical challenges.
• You have an open attitude towards learning, and are driven, hard‑working, committed