PhD Student in Prof. Philipp Sondermann Group 07/2026

Offer Description

Dr. Philipp Sondermann is Joint Group Leader and Head of the Laboratory for Drug Evolution at IMol Polish Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Prague. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemistry from the University of Heidelberg and did undergraduate research with Nobel laureate Prof. David MacMillan at Princeton University. He received his PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from ETH Zurich, working with Professor Erick M. Carreira, where he completed the total synthesis of natural products Mytilipin B and Janustatin A. He is the recipient of the Dr. Sophie-Bernthsen Scholarship for excellence in undergraduate studies and was awarded the ETH Medal for his dissertation. He subsequently worked as an SNF Postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Peter G. Schultz at Scripps Research in La Jolla on the reprogramming of Botulinum proteases for targeted degradation of intrinsically disordered proteins. The Laboratory for Drug Evolution led by Dr. Sondermann combines techniques from organic chemistry and synthetic biology to enable Darwinian evolution of drug molecules.   

Research Interests – Website

Drug discovery is a slow, expensive, and labor-intensive process. Large sums are invested into screening compound libraries to identify initial hits and structurally optimizing these initial compounds for human therapeutic use. However, traditional medicinal chemistry often restricts itself to low structural complexity molecules that cover only a small portion of the theoretically accessible chemical space. This limitation also restricts the types of proteins that can be pursued as targets, currently leaving a significant portion of the human proteome “undruggable.”

Many organisms in nature produce defensive chemicals to enhance their fitness. Some of these products have been used clinically to treat various human diseases, including cancerous malignancies, helminthic diseases, and bacterial infections. However, these therapeutic properties in humans are largely coincidental and only indirectly evolutionarily selected. Novel, “non-natural” metabolites with structures specifically designed for human therapeutic use can enable the specific targeting of a much broader range of currently undruggable protein targets.

In the Laboratory of Drug Evolution, we employ Darwinian evolution and emulate Nature’s strategies to identify novel drug structures tailored for human use. We utilize strategies and techniques from organic chemistry and molecular biology to reroute and accelerate the drug discovery process.

Our research also explores the use of new therapeutic modalities to target intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), a class of proteins characterized by the absence of a stable fold. IDPs remain largely undruggable, but they play crucial roles in human diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer. As new means to combat these diseases, we leverage sequence-specific proteases to reduce the intracellular levels of these disordered proteins and improve patient outcomes.

JOB OFFER

Profile of candidates/requirements:

– MSc degree in chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, or related fields in natural sciences and life sciences.

– Familiarity with laboratory techniques in at least one of the following disciplines: organic chemistry, synthetic biology, molecular biology, biochemistry.

– Very good command of English.

– Motivation and passion for experimental work.

We offer:

– Job type (employment contract/stipend): Full-time position, fixed-term scholarship contract, admission to doctoral school after the probation period.

– Remuneration/month:  5.500 PLN net/month (4.900 PLN net/month on the probation period).

– The position can start on the 1st of July 2026.

– Work in an active team in an excellent scientific environment.

– Comprehensive training in synthetic biology, chemistry, and molecular biology.

– Access to the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.

– Participation in courses and conferences.

– Dual PhD appointment at IMol Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry (IOCB) Prague with the work being performed in Warsaw, Poland.

Description of the tasks in the project:

We are seeking a curious and motivated PhD student to join our team at the Laboratory of Drug Evolution. The project aims to investigate and establish the use of systems for continuous hypermutation in drug discovery. The project involves a wide range of techniques, with a focus on molecular and synthetic biology, complemented by analytical techniques from cell biology and chemistry.

The project’s objective is to develop strategies for using in vivo hypermutation in the continuous evolution of proteases. The goal is to reprogram sequence-specific proteases to degrade intrinsically disordered proteins, which are key players in human disease. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, interpreting results, writing scientific manuscripts, and preparing the PhD thesis.

While the project has defined research goals, it also offers flexibility and scope for independent thinking and creative exploration. This position provides an excellent opportunity to gain comprehensive training at the interface of chemistry and synthetic biology, and to develop skills in advanced experimental design and scientific communication within a stimulating and collaborative research environment.

Required documents (in English):

– Cover letter with short descriptions of your research experience/projects.

– CV

– List of publications

– 2 Reference contacts