PhD Fellowship in Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry (Drug Design & Pharmacology)

About the role

The Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology offers a three‑year PhD fellowship starting 1 Nov 2026. The project focuses on developing pretargeted radiopharmaceuticals for glioblastoma imaging and therapy by targeting uPAR using bio‑orthogonal tetrazine ligation chemistry.

Key responsibilities

• Design, synthesize and characterize novel tetrazine‑based radioligands.
• Perform radiolabeling with ^18F, ^131I and ^211At and optimize labeling protocols.
• Develop tetrazine scaffolds resistant to de‑astatination.
• Implement site‑specific conjugation of anti‑uPAR antibodies for pretargeting.
• Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team for biological evaluation and in‑vivo studies.
• Document experimental work and present findings within the PreBreach project.

Required profile

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in chemistry, radiochemistry, or a related field.
• Strong background in organic synthesis and radiopharmaceutical chemistry.
• Experience with bio‑orthogonal chemistry (tetrazine/TCO) is highly desirable.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary research team.

Required skills

• Radiochemistry techniques.
• Organic synthesis and purification.
• Tetrazine/TCO ligation chemistry.
• Fluorine‑18, iodine‑131 and astatine‑211 radiolabeling.
• Analytical methods (NMR, MS, HPLC).
• Protein conjugation methods.

What we offer

• Three‑year funded PhD position.
• Access to state‑of‑the‑art radiochemistry facilities.
• Collaboration with leading experts in radiopharmacy, protein engineering and molecular imaging.
• Opportunity to contribute to innovative cancer therapeutics.