Protein and Structure Biology - Professional Internships (PhD Students)

About Sygnature Discovery

At Sygnature Discovery, we create exceptional scientific outcomes. For our customers, who bring life-changing medicines to patients; and for our people, who help make this possible.

We’re 700+ scientists from over 50 countries, working as one across Europe and North America. With no competing internal programs, we offer total confidentiality and commitment.

Over the past 20 years, we’ve earned a track record of real impact: 60+ advanced candidates, 250 patents filed, 200+ active projects. Over 90% of our customers choose to stay with us – from biotechs racing to clinic to pharma companies that need specialised expertise for targeted challenges.

About The Professional Internships

We're excited to offer a PIP (Professional Internship for PhD students) placements here at Sygnature Discovery in our Protein and Structure Department at our Macclesfield site.

These professional placements provide BBSRC-funded DTP (or equivalent) PhD students a fantastic opportunity to gain practical industry experience to help broaden your research experience through exposure to a well-defined 3-month project in a pharmaceutical drug discovery setting.

To be eligible, you will be pursuing a PhD in Biology or a related discipline and be enrolled in a UK-registered institution. This placement must form an integral part of your PhD. Please note that the position is unpaid, and we do not provide relocation expenses, so you will need to ensure that you can arrange accommodation and travel.

January 2027 - Application of Structural Biology to an Emerging Drug Discovery Target

Structural biology plays a key role in modern drug discovery by providing molecular-level insight into protein structure and potential opportunities for therapeutic intervention. This project will focus on the production and structural characterisation of a therapeutically relevant drug discovery target and you will participate in the complete workflow from gene to structure. The target may be expressed using bacterial, insect and mammalian cell systems. You will develop purification strategies to obtain high-quality protein suitable for structural studies and assess protein quality, stability and biophysical characteristics using industry-standard analytical techniques. Purified protein will be progressed into structural biology workflows which may include X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and cryo-EM. The primary aim will be to generate high-quality apo-state structures and characterise structural features relevant to drug discovery, including ligand-binding pockets, allosteric sites and protein-protein interaction interfaces. Working alongside an expert multidisciplinary team in an industrial research environment you will gain hands-on experience in protein expression, purification, structural biology techniques, data analysis and interpretation within a drug discovery setting.

April 2027- Optimising GPCR Production for Drug Discovery

Many of today's medicines act by targeting GPCRs, a family of proteins that play central roles in human health and disease. Despite their importance, GPCRs remain challenging proteins to produce and study. This project will investigate approaches to improve the production, purification and analysis of GPCRs, helping to address a key bottleneck in modern drug discovery. Working alongside an expert multidisciplinary team in an industrial research environment, you will gain experience across cell biology and protein science, with opportunities to learn cell culture, protein purification and analytical techniques. The project offers a unique opportunity to contribute to real-world research challenges while developing highly transferable laboratory and data analysis skills.

As part of your application, a covering letter is required, which should briefly outline why you would like to undertake your PhD placement within Sygnature Discovery and which project you would be interested in. Please ensure your CV and covering letter are submitted as one document.

Please note: This advert may close early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this opportunity.