Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Computational Chemistry (842777)

FTE: 1.0 (35 hours/week)

Contract Type: Fixed Term (until 30 Sept 2029)

Closing Date: 13/09/2026

Applications are invited for a Research Associate to work in the group of Professor David Palmer at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow). The Research Associate will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of synthetic chemists, chemical biologists, and data scientists supported by a £3.9M EPSRC Prosperity Partnership Award centred around the development of next generation medicines beyond Lipinski space. This is a multi-year, collaborative endeavour with our industrial partner GSK, and has the overall objective of retooling the underpinning synthesis of oligonucleotides (ONs) and their derivatives, the development of platforms for cell targeting, and new approaches to heterobifunctional molecules. 

Working in close collaboration with other scientists at the University of Strathclyde and GSK, you will develop computational methods to accelerate the design of next generation pharmaceuticals beyond Lipinski space. More specifically, you will: (i) elucidate structure-property relationships governing cellular uptake, physico-chemical properties, and efficacy for a novel class of therapeutic oligo-nucleotides; (ii) model chemical reactivity to aid the design of novel synthetic routes. The research will involve both physics-based modelling (DFT, and classical forcefield based molecular dynamics) and data-driven approaches (AI/ML, informatics).

The role will be based in the Palmer Lab (www.palmer-lab.com) in the Strathclyde Computational and Theoretical Chemistry Hub (SCoTCH, www.scotch-research.com), a centre for excellence in computational molecular science. The centre occupies modern computational laboratories with access to high-performance computing facilities including graphic processing units (GPUs). The centre hosts over 20 PhD students and postdocs offering a vibrant place to work.

We are committed to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience, and believe that diversity makes us stronger by bringing in new ideas and perspectives. The Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry holds an Athena Swan Silver Award for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The University of Strathclyde was established in 1796 as 'the place of useful learning' and this remains at the forefront of our vision today for Strathclyde to be a leading international technological university that makes a positive difference to the lives of its students, to society and to the world. Strathclyde was the first institute to win the coveted Times Higher Education “University of the Year” award twice, in 2012 and 2019, and has since been voted the Scottish University of the Year in 2020. The University occupies a central position in Glasgow, only short journeys from Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Initial interviews have been scheduled for late September/early October.

For informal enquiries, please contact David Palmer, Professor of Chemistry at david.palmer@strath.ac.uk

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