Postdoctoral in environment-responsive antibody and nanobody discovery

Are you interested in engineering proteins that can respond to their environment and control biological function with high precision?

We are looking for a postdoc for a 4-year position starting 1 December 2026 (or soon thereafter) in the Antibody Technologies Group at DTU Bioengineering, led by Professor & Head of Section Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel.

In this project, you will work at the interface of protein engineering and toxin biology, developing antibodies, nanobodies, and binding proteins with condition-dependent activity. You will combine experimental discovery approaches with data-driven methods and collaborate with leading international partners. The position offers the opportunity to take ownership of your project and contribute to new strategies for controlling protein function in complex biological environments.

The research project: PROTÆCT
This postdoc position is part of the Villum Foundation funded project, PROTÆCT: Precision Regulation Of Toxin Activity through Environmentally-Controlled Targeting, which aims to uncover how protein-based toxins can be controlled using binding proteins that respond to environmental cues such as pH and metal ions.

Most engineered proteins function under static conditions, whereas biological systems are dynamic. PROTÆCT addresses this by developing binding proteins with condition-dependent activity, enabling selective modulation of protein function in defined microenvironments.

You will design, discover, and characterize antibodies and nanobodies whose binding changes with environmental conditions. This could e.g. enable the development of proteins that are only active in specific tissue environments or are activated when conditions change during a fermentation process, with potential applications in targeted therapeutics, biosensing, and synthetic biology.

The project integrates advanced in vitro selection technologies with computational approaches. You will play a central role in generating experimental data and linking these to how environmental factors influence protein–protein interactions.

The research group
You will join the Antibody Technologies Group at DTU Bioengineering, working at the interface of toxinology, antibody engineering, and protein science. The group has a strong track record in developing recombinant antivenoms, environment-responsive antibodies, and translational biotechnological solutions.

We are an international and interdisciplinary team combining experimental and computational expertise. You will be expected to take ownership of your project and work independently, while contributing to a collaborative environment where ideas and expertise are shared across the team.

The group offers a setting with strong academic and industrial connections, providing opportunities to engage with leading collaborators and contribute to research with both fundamental and translational impact.

Responsibilities and qualifications
The postdoc project will focus on in silico design, discovery, and characterization of environment-sensing binding proteins targeting natural toxins.

Key tasks may include:

• Designing and implementing state-of-the-art deep learning architectures for generating binding proteins that sense their biochemical environment
• Developing and optimizing generative models for de novo design of binding proteins that sense their biochemical environment
• Collaborating closely with wet lab scientists who will express and test the designs that have been created
• Publishing results in impactful journals and contributing to future grant applications
• Scientific project management and co-leadership
• Mentoring and training PhD students and MSc/BSc students 

Experimental work will include molecular engineering, protein characterization, and assays for studying protein function, regulation, and binding properties

We are looking for a candidate who:

• Holds a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Biology, or a closely related field
• Has strong theoretical and practical experience in deep learning
• Has hands-on experience developing generative models
• Is highly proficient in Python, PyTorch and/or JAX
• Has experience training large-scale neural networks on HPC or GPU clusters
• Has experience with representation learning and sequence or structural modeling
• Has a strong publication record in relevant AI/ML venues or interdisciplinary journals
• Demonstrates the ability to work independently and drive technical innovation
• Demonstrates the ability to manage projects and mentor students

It will be considered an advantage if you have:

• Experience with protein language models (e.g., ESM, ProtT5) and/or antibody specific language models (e.g., AntiBERTy, AbLang2)
• Experience with structure prediction frameworks
• Experience in geometric deep learning or graph neural networks
• Familiarity with computational antibody/binder discovery or molecular modeling
• Experience with MLOps, reproducible ML pipelines, and/or scalable AI infrastructure

The candidate will collaborate closely with other postdocs and PhD students as well as our international collaborators (particularly University of Porto and the Scripps Research Institute) to strengthen computational and interdisciplinary skills.

As a formal qualification, you must hold a PhD degree (or equivalent). 

Assessment
The assessment of applicants will be made by Professor & Head of Section Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel together with relevant colleagues, group members, and/or project partners.

We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility. 

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union.

The period of employment is 4 years.  

Starting date is 1 December 2026 (or according to mutual agreement).  The position is a full-time position.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

Further information 
Further information may be obtained from Professor Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel (ahola@bio.dtu.dk).

You can read more about DTU Bioengineering at www.bioengineering.dtu.dk 

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark.

Application procedure 
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 31 August 2026 (23:59 Danish time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link “Apply now”, fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• Application (cover letter)
• CV
• Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD – in English)
• List of publications 

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.