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Måløv, Denmark

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Department: CMC Development & Scaling, Global Manufacturing & Supply

Location: Måløv, Denmark

Your impact begins here
Take scientific ownership of a new analytical technology built on aptamers: functional DNA or RNA binders. As PhD Student in Aptamer-Enabled, Animal-Free Bioanalysis, you will turn aptamer discovery into automated, reproducible methods and test them against established assays. Your work could help reduce reliance on animal-derived reagents in the assays that support clinical drug candidates, and bring new science into pharmaceutical practice.

What you’ll bring
You are a curious, self-driven scientist who is excited by applied research between academia and industry. You have:

• A relevant MSc degree, supported by BSc-level training, in molecular biology, molecular medicine, chemistry, biochemistry, nanoscience or a closely related discipline. Recent graduates and candidates expecting to complete their MSc by the end of Q1 2027 are welcome to apply.
• A strong interest or experience in nucleic acid research, aptamer development, bioanalysis and laboratory work.
• An organised, flexible approach to complex experimental work, and the confidence to drive a project independently while using academic and industrial supervision.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills across disciplines and organisations, and fluent written and spoken English.

Useful, but not essential:

• Experience with in vitro selection, enzymatic nucleic acid synthesis and purification, biophysical characterisation and/or next-generation sequencing analysis.
• Experience with bioanalytical assay development, laboratory automation or liquid handlers, or knowledge of protein–protein interactions and protein purification.

What you’ll do
You will own the scientific direction of the project within the agreed scope, supported by your supervisors. You will:

• Generate, select and characterise DNA- and/or RNA-based aptamers using nucleic acid chemistry, in vitro evolution and nanotechnology tools.
• Develop and optimise fit-for-purpose bioanalysis methods, assessing specificity, robustness, reproducibility, throughput and transferability.
• Automate aptamer generation, screening and assay workflows on liquid-handling platforms.
• Benchmark new assay formats against established analytical methods.
• Assess how novel assays could be introduced in pharmaceutical development and quality control, including GxP and regulatory expectations.
• Document and publish your results, complete your PhD requirements and share your learning across Aarhus University and Novo.

Who you’ll work with
In Global Manufacturing & Supply, colleagues work across the value chain from drug and device development to marketed Novo products. You will join CMC Bioanalysis in Måløv, part of CMC Development & Scaling, which develops assays for cell banks, in-process samples, drug substance and drug product across the global clinical project portfolio. Your future team has 18 colleagues with deep biological-assay expertise, a can-do mindset and strong team spirit.

You will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Natural Sciences at Aarhus University, joining a nucleic acid research environment working across DNA, RNA and XNA. Academic and industrial supervisors will support you throughout, and supervision meetings continue whether you are in Aarhus or Måløv. This project moves between two research environments. You will start in Aarhus, then spend a substantial period in Måløv. The order and length of each period may change as the science progresses.

What you can expect here
You will be trusted to own your project and supported to do it well. Expect interdisciplinary training, access to expertise across Aarhus University and Novo, and relevant courses, seminars and research meetings. You will gain first-hand insight into the pharmaceutical product life cycle and the quality and regulatory framework for biological and recombinant products.

Salary: For this role, the Monthly Base Salary is 40.145,48 DKK, corresponding to the years of employment as PhD Student.​

Incentives and Benefits: The salary package may include short-term and/or long-term incentives as well as other employee benefits based on position level, location, functional area and relevant market benchmarks.

Learn more about our Reward Philosophy here.

Start now
Your impact begins today. If you are ready to turn aptamer science into methods that move pharmaceutical bioanalysis forward, apply by 8 November 2026. Please include a letter of motivation, your CV with any publications and research experience, reference letter(s) from previous academic supervisors if available, and documentation of your completed MSc degree with BSc and MSc transcripts (including weighted grade averages and English translations where applicable).

For further information, please contact Senior Research Scientist Ali Shahrokhtash at [email protected] or Scientific Director Jan Amstrup at [email protected].

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.