July 13, 2026

New phD position through the European doctoral network ORFEUS

The group will participate in a project funded by EU Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions that funds a network to PhD students to work in different European labs, with a focus on the dark proteome. The positions will open in october 2026, projects to start early 2027.

A group of 15 European labs, together with several companies and Universities, have obtained funding for a doctoral network focusing on the study of the dark proteome. The dark proteome lies outside standard annotations and includes of small proteins or microproteins. Many of these microproteins are evolutionary young and of unknown function.

The student based at the Albà's group will build models to predict microprotein functionality using evolutionary-informed models. We will learn about the rules that govern protein functionalization by interrogating sequences from closely related species and reconstructing evolutionary trajectories. The integration of different types of information using machine learning will provide a comprehensive view of the features that facilitate the birth of new proteins.