Section for Biomolecular Sciences

The areas of interest reach from protein synthesis and turnover over protein dynamics and design to enzymology and metabolic networks. The section has a firm base in molecular biology and biophysics. The section enjoys strong ties and close collaborations with other departments at the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen as well as a large number of national and international research groups.

The section is subdivided in four research groups and one center. Click on the links below to learn more about the research and activities taking place in the groups:

• Biomolecular regulation Group
• Protein Biology Group
• Protein Design and Enzymology Group
• Structural Biology and NMR Laboratory (SBiN-Lab)
• The Linderstrøm-Lang Center for Proein Science

Currently the section has about 100 members from the MSc level and up. See the full staff list here.

Teaching is core to our section and we take pride in delivering research based education at the highest level.

The section has its main teaching competencies and obligations within biochemistry and protein chemistry to students of  Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biomedicine  at all levels. In addition, the section teaches aspects of molecular biology, microbiology and gene technology as well as molecular cell biology.

Together with The Section for RNA Biology and Bioinformatics, our section also harbors a PhD program in Protein Science (see tab below).

See all the courses that the members of the section participates in the list of courses. 

Read more about the study programs by clicking the boxes below (pages in danish, open in new window).

At the Section for Biomolecular Sciences we are dedicated to the education of new PhDs via the Faculty of Science PhD School. The research at the section is in the interface between biochemistry, cell biology, physics, chemistry and computational sciences, and investigates basic questions in relation to protein folding and degradation, regulation of transcription and translation, and enzyme mechanism and function. Moreover, protein design is a recently established research focus.

We strive to promote the education of highly qualified and independent young researchers. The group leader generally acts as the project supervisor (often with at least one section member as an additional mentor), and supports and advises the student during the research period. The progress on the project is evaluated at half year intervals. Advanced courses are offered throughout the studies. Graduates typically find jobs in the pharmaceutical industry or academia. 

The program has a strong international focus, and students are encouraged to undertake short and longer-term visits abroad with our collaborators. Moreover, internationally renowned scientists are recruited as censors at phd-exams.  

• Presently the section hosts 25-30 PhD students in addition to co-financed projects with industrial partners and students enrolled at other KU faculties.
• The practical training includes a wide variety of biochemical and cell biological methods, biophysical techniques including structure determination by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, as well as structural bioinformatics.
• The theoretical training includes Protein Science Summer Schools with participation of a number of international lecturers (See previous schools here). Moreover, the phd-students in the program organize a biannual PhD-day together with students from other departments in the Copenhagen area. This is supplemented with various established seminar series.

All students are admitted through the Faculty of Science PhD School. If you are interested in joining the Section for Biomolecular Sciences as a PhD student you are wellcome to contact the individual supervisors in the section directly. See a full list of staff members here.

The Section for Biomolecular Sciences is equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories for NMR spectroscopy, cell biology, biophysics, biochemistry and molecular biology. If we have instrument time in spare, you are welcome to request access to the instruments on either a pay-for-service or collaborative basis. Please contact the section head, Kaare Teilum (kaare.teilum@bio.ku.dk), for inquiries.

The following instruments are particularly likely to be of interest:

• 500, 750 and 800 MHz NMR spectrometers equipped for protein spectroscopy
• Absorbance and fluorescence platereaders
• ITC instrument 
• JASCO J810 CD instrument
• MALDI-TOF MS spectrometer
• Zetasizer DLS and SLS instrument
• Preparative ultracentrifuge 
• Protein production facility