Resolving Glycosylation in Therapeutic Proteins Using SWAXS

This 4-year joint PhD position investigates protein glycosylation using advanced X-ray scattering and computational modelling, co-funded by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and the University of Southampton. The successful candidate will develop and validate a computational pipeline integrating glycosylation state prediction, ensemble generation, and SWAXS-based scoring to resolve glycan conformation and occupancy. The project involves wet-lab training at Southampton and scattering experiments at the ESRF beamline BM29 in Grenoble, France. The candidate will work within an international team to tackle unresolved structural biology challenges relevant to biopharmaceuticals and therapeutics.

• Develop and validate a computational pipeline combining glycosylation prediction, ensemble generation, and SWAXS scoring.
• Conduct protein production, purification, and LC-MS/MS glycan profiling at the University of Southampton.
• Perform SWAXS data collection, beamline operation, and model fitting at the ESRF BM29 beamline.
• Test the computational and experimental approach across four benchmark glycoprotein systems, including therapeutic antibody fragments.
• Collaborate across an international, multi-site team spanning France and the United Kingdom.