PhD programme Molecular Life Sciences

The Molecular Life Science programme, provided by the Bijvoet School, part of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, aims to provide PhD students with a solid and broad knowledge of structural biochemistry. The programme provides research and training opportunities for PhD students interested in all areas of structural biology available in the Bijvoet Center: X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry, proteomics, solid-state and liquid-state NMR, protein folding, membrane enzymology and lipidomics. The Bijvoet Center combines expertise in these fields with advanced infrastructures and allows for training in a very multidisciplinary way.

The programme organizes an introductory course on biomolecular mass spectrometry and advanced courses on the structural analysis of proteins using NMR and X-ray crystallography. On a regular basis, scientists from all over the world are invited to present their research in the Bijvoet Seminar series, organized to expose the PhD students in the programma to research performed in the wider scientific community.

All PhD students in the MLS programme are also expected to attend the “PhD student evenings” which are organized by the “PhD platform” of the Bijvoet School, which represents all MLS PhD students. At these occasions PhD students or post-docs from the Bijvoet School present their work to each other and often these lectures are followed by an informal diner in a nearby restaurant to increase social cohesion between the PhD students of the different research groups.

Finally, one of the highlights in the programme is the yearly Bijvoet Tutorial Symposium. This two day symposium presents Bijvoet PhD students with an opportunity to present their research and always features renowned international speakers in the field of structural biology.