Research position available at reNEW Copenhagen Node as part of ERC funding in the lab of Josh Brickman

We are looking for a researcher to join the Brickman group starting April 1st, 2025, or upon agreement. The position will explore enhancer regulation in response to FGF/ERK signaling as a means to understand how transcription factors interface with signaling to regulate cell fate choice in early development as part of an ERC advanced grant program, “Signaling decoded in ENhanCEr states – a molecular basis for plasticity in development and differentiation (SENCE).”

Our research
The Brickman group is interested in the transcriptional basis for cell fate choice, exploring both fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional regulation by signaling and how gene regulatory networks define cell potency and fate in development and differentiation. We focus principally on pluripotent stem cells and their differentiation to various types of endoderm as a model system, both embryonic and extra-embryonic. Our recent work points to new paradigms for how transcription factors regulate enhancer potential and interpret signaling, including the finding that response to MAP kinase (ERK) signaling, plasticity and regeneration in early development is dependent on transcription factor occupancy. This project will explore how enhancers are activated in response to ERK signaling, understanding the molecular basis for enhancer activity by exploiting signaling models and understanding how enhancer status safeguards early developmental potential.

Job description
We are looking for a researcher to focus on ERK regulation of enhancer function as part of the SENCE project. As a researcher in the Brickman lab, you will be working in a field of stem cell and molecular biology. You will be part of an international interdisciplinary team of scientists focusing on understanding enhancer regulation, gene regulatory networks and exploiting these networks to develop new technologies for cell type specification in vitro. We work with in vivo and in vitro systems in both mouse and human. For this project, you will primarily work with either mouse embryos and mouse embryonic stem cell (ESCs), but may also probe the conservation of important findings in three dimensional synthetic models for human development, human hypoblast stem cells and naïve human ESC culture.

References:
Hamilton, W. B., Mosesson, Y., Monteiro, R. S., Emdal, K. B., Knudsen, T. E., Francavilla, C., Barkai, N., Olsen, J. V. and Brickman, J. M. (2019). Dynamic lineage priming is driven via direct enhancer regulation by ERK. Nature 575, 355–360.

Knudsen, T. E. and Brickman, J. M. (2020). Can a Cell Put Its Arms around a Memory? Cell Stem Cell 26, 609–610.

Knudsen, T. E., Hamilton, W. B., Proks, M., Lykkegaard, M., Linneberg-Agerholm, M., Nielsen, A. V., Perera, M., Malzard, L. L., Trusina, A. and Brickman, J. M. (2023). A bipartite function of ESRRB can integrate signaling over time to balance self-renewal and differentiation. Cell Syst.

Linneberg-Agerholm, M., Sell, A. C., Redo-Riveiro, A., Proks, M., Knudsen, T. E., Perera, M. and Brickman, J. M. (2023). Enhancer status in the primitive endoderm supports unrestricted lineage plasticity in regulative development. 2023.05.20.540779.

Wong, Y. F., Kumar, Y., Proks, M., Herrera, J. A. R., Rothová, M. M., Monteiro, R. S., Pozzi, S., Jennings, R. E., Hanley, N. A., Bickmore, W. A., et al. (2023). Expansion of ventral foregut is linked to changes in the enhancer landscape for organ-specific differentiation. Nat. Cell Biol. 1–12.

Responsibilities

• To implement state of the art genomic and proteomic technologies to understand the basis of enhancer activity in early development and differentiation.
• To develop new approaches to identify enhancer specific co-factors involved in signaling response.
• To define regulatory networks and signaling response in vivo.
• To optimize new molecular and biochemical approaches to single locus and single molecule functional assays.
• Will be expected to be competitive for and write independent research fellowships.

Qualifications (including several of the following)

• An equivalent of a PhD in Developmental, Stem Cell or Molecular Biology and/or Bioinformatics.
• Experience with next generation sequencing technologies, ChIP-seq, CUT&RUN, single cell RNA-seq etc.
• Experience with embryonic stem cell culture.
• Experience with proteomics or phosphoproteomics.
• Molecular biology, western blots, RT-PCR etc.
• English communication skills, both oral and written are a must.

We offer

• A stimulating research environment and collaborative work with physicists from Niels Bohr Institute and hospital.
• Usage of state-of-the-art technologies for stem cell research.
• Possibilities for continued education and training.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 4 years. The start date is 1 April 2025 or after agreement.

Salary, pension and other conditions of employment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant organisation. Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated. The employer will pay an additional 17.1 % to your pension fund.

Foreign and Danish applicants may be eligible for tax reductions if they hold a PhD degree and have not lived in Denmark the last 10 years.

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2020.

Questions:
For further information contact Professor Joshua Brickman [email protected]
Foreign applicants may find this link useful: www.ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility).

Application procedure
Your application must be submitted in English by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. Furthermore, your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:

• Motivated letter of application (Max. one page)
• CV incl. education, work/research experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
• A certified/signed copy of a) PhD certificate and b) Master of Science certificate. If the PhD is not completed, a written statement from the supervisor will do
• List of publications
• Teaching portfolio (If applicable)

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Info
Ansøgningsfrist: 23-02-2025

Ansættelsesdato: 01-04-2025

Arbejdstid: Fuldtid

Afdeling/Sted: reNEW NNF Center for Stem Cell Medicine