项目介绍

2026年6月8日

The research group Computational Systems Biology is part of the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering and the Department of Molecular and Microbial Systems (M2S). The research group is led by prof. Dr. Vera van Noort.

Unit website

Project

Recently, Large Language Models of proteins have greatly enhanced the possibilities of Machine Learning in protein biology. We can now build accurate prediction models of protein structures but also other protein features such as their temperature stability and molecular function. The research group has developed the Fold First Ask Later pipeline that annotates the protein function of phage proteins (viruses that infect bacteria), for which the majority of functions are unknown. The current project goes beyond this pipeline and aims to study the function of microproteins and post-translational modifications encoded by phages. These go beyond the current capabilities of protein-LLMs. The candidate will develop novel tools to study these and write scientific publications about the results. The work is carried out in close collaboration with phage biology and biotechnology wet labs to validate computational findings and to create a closed systems biology research cycle.
Furthermore, the candidate will assist with practicals in Bioinformatics courses and guide bachelor and master students of the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering with their thesis work. They will also complete training as required by the Arenberg Doctoral School.
The research output will result in a PhD at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering.

Profile

We are looking for a candidate with:

• a Master in Bioinformatics
• outstanding grades, competitive to obtain FWO funding
• strong interest in protein modelling, protein Large Language Models
• experience in High Performance Computing
• Interest in teaching

Offer

Fully funded 4-year position. 

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Vera van Noort, mail: vera.vannoort@kuleuven.be.You can apply for this job no later than June 29, 2026 via the online application tool