Postdoctoral Fellow in Airway-Targeted Tuberculosis Vaccine Development, Structural Serology and Antigen Design

The TB Vaccine Research Group at Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and the Structural Biology and Protein Design Group within Novo Nordisk Foundation Initiative for Vaccines and Immunity (NIVI) at the University of Copenhagen (NIVI) are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral fellow for a joint position spanning vaccine development, immunology, structural biology, and vaccine design strategies optimized for pulmonary immunity. The successful candidate will divide their time between both research environments, contributing to the development and evaluation of next-generation tuberculosis vaccine strategies through preclinical immunology, structural characterization of immune responses, antigen and epitope discovery, and structure-guided protein engineering.

The position is offered for three years, with a preferred starting date as sson as possible. Some flexibility in start date may be possible.

The department and research group
The Department of Infectious Disease Immunology focuses on research and development of next-generation vaccines and diagnostic tools, primarily within tuberculosis (TB), chlamydia, and vaccine adjuvants. The Department conducts both basic and translational research and is highly rated internationally. As part of the SSI Center for Vaccine Research, we can efficiently move products from research into clinical trials. We collaborate closely with a large number of institutions and are externally funded by e.g. the National Institutes of Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European Commission and the Danish Research Council. The Structural Biology and Biochemistry group at NIVI focuses on structurally and biophysically characterizing the antigenic landscape to inform next-generation antigen design and enable tailored vaccine development. We combine cryo-electron microscopy, structural serology of polyclonal serum samples, computational modeling, protein engineering, and biophysical characterization to define protective epitopes, define antibody-antigen interactions, and guide the design of multi-epitope vaccine immunogens.

The two groups are part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Initiative for Vaccines and Immunity (NIVI). Within NIVI, the TB program aims to define biomarkers and mechanisms of airway immunity and use these insights to develop next-generation TB vaccine strategies. A key focus is to move beyond classical systemic Th1 immunity and develop vaccine approaches that engage mucosal responses.

You will join a dynamic and international team of scientists, postdoctoral fellows, technicians, PhD students, clinicians, and translational collaborators between Statens Serum Institut and the University of Copenhagen. The position will be embedded in a highly collaborative NIVI framework and will form part of a coordinated TB vaccine work package involving two closely interacting postdoctoral projects. The companion postdoctoral project will focus T cell characterization, in vivo vaccine evaluation, delivery route optimization, immunization schedules, and translational animal models. Together, the two postdoctoral fellows will contribute to the design and preclinical evaluation of TB vaccine strategies that integrate antibody, CD4 T-cell, and CD8 T-cell immunity.

The project
Tuberculosis remains a global health emergency, and the limited efficacy of BCG against pulmonary TB in adolescents and adults highlights the need for improved vaccine strategies. A major limitation in the field is that many vaccine approaches have focused primarily on systemic Th1 immunity, whereas protection against pulmonary TB is likely to require more diverse and locally positioned immune responses in the airways.

The successful candidate will perform immunological analyses of vaccine responses and integrate these with structural studies of antibodies and antigens using cryo-electron microscopy, structural serology of polyclonal serum samples, monoclonal antibody characterization, computational structural biology, and protein design and engineering focusing on vaccine strategies to engage mucosal responses. A significant part of the work will also be to characterize functionality of selected antibodies or polyclonal sera including binding of the bacterial surface of Mtb, binding of Mtb infected cells, passive transfer studies and mapping of in vivo antigen expression during Mtb infection in mice.

Main responsibilities
Your main tasks will include:

• Design and perform preclinical vaccination studies and immunological analyses of vaccine responses
• Evaluate immune responses in lung, airways, blood, and lymphoid tissues using flow cytometry, antibody assays, and complementary immunological methods
• Characterize vaccine-induced antibody responses using structural and biochemical approaches
• Perform cryo-electron microscopy and structural serology studies to define antibody-antigen interactions and polyclonal immune responses
• Discover and characterize protective B-cell epitopes and antigenic landscapes
• Express, purify, and biophysically characterize recombinant proteins and antibody-antigen complexes
• Apply computational structural biology, molecular modeling, and protein engineering to support antigen optimization
• Functional studies of selected antibodies, incl. surface binding to bacteria and infected cells, passive transfer studies and mapping of in vivo antigen expression by Mtb by imaging and/or flow cytometry.
• Integrate structural, computational, and immunological datasets to guide vaccine design
• Processing and analyzing samples from lung, blymph nodes, spleen, blood.
• Integrating experimental findings with ongoing NIVI work packages on biomarkers and mechanisms of airway immunity
• Working closely with the vaccine-development postdoctoral fellow to align immune readouts, animal models, and in vivo vaccine performance within a shared framework
• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams across SSI and the University of Copenhagen
• Communicating results clearly across a multidisciplinary team of immunologists, structural biologists, vaccine platform experts, clinicians, and development partners
• Contributing to manuscripts, grant applications, internal reports, figures, and strategic project summaries

Science communication will be a central part of the position. The postdoctoral fellow will be expected to present complex immunological and preclinical data to both specialist and interdisciplinary audiences, prepare figures and summaries for project decision-making, contribute actively to manuscripts and grant writing, and support internal alignment across the work package.

Qualifications
We are looking for a candidate with a strong interest in vaccine immunology, tuberculosis, airway immunity, and translational vaccine development.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD in immunology, vaccinology, infectious disease biology, or a related discipline, as well as experience with several of the following areas:

• Vaccine immunology or infectious diseases
• Mucosal or pulmonary immunology
• Flow cytometry and immune phenotyping
• Protein expression and purification
• Structural biology (particularly cryo-EM is preferred)
• Antigen and epitope discovery
• Structural serology
• Computational structural biology or AI-based protein design
• Experimental design and data interpretation in complex in vivo studies
• Scientific writing and presentation of complex datasets

Experience with M. tuberculosis infection models and BSL-3 work will be considered an advantage, but is not required.

Personal and professional profile
We are looking for a candidate who is:

• Scientifically curious, creative, and motivated by challenging biological questions
• Careful and structured in experimental planning and data interpretation
• Able to work independently while contributing actively to a collaborative team
• Motivated by translational vaccine development and global health
• A strong communicator in written and spoken English
• Comfortable working across disciplines with immunologists, vaccine platform experts, structural biologists, clinicians, and development teams

We offer
We offer an exciting postdoctoral position in an internationally leading vaccine research environment with a strong translational profile. You will become part of a strategically important TB vaccine program embedded in NIVI and SSI’s Center for Vaccine Research.

The position offers opportunities to:

• Work at the interface between basic immunology and translational vaccine development
• Develop and test novel vaccine strategies for pulmonary immunity
• Build expertise in airway immunology, vaccine delivery, animal models, and translational immunology
• Contribute to a next-generation TB vaccine program with clear translational ambitions
• Collaborate with leading national and international partners
• Develop a strong scientific profile through publications, presentations, and collaborative project work

Conditions of employment
The employment is for a period of three years.

The employment will be in accordance with the terms of the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Federation of Professional Associations (AC-overenskomsten) and the circular concerning the job structure for scientific staff working with research at sector research institutions (Stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale med forskningsopgaver ved sektorforskningsinstitutioner).

Your research qualifications will be assessed by a scientific assessment committee in accordance with the current Danish rules for employment of scientific staff working with research at sector research institutions in Denmark. In order to assess the research qualifications, a list of publications and 2-3 scientific works must be submitted.

Further information
For further details and informal enquiries, please contact:

Group PI Rasmus Mortensen

Phone: Se telefonnummer på studerendeonline.dk

Email: Se e-mailadresse på studerendeonline.dk

Group PI Monica Fernandez-Quintero

Phone: Se telefonnummer på studerendeonline.dk

Email: Se e-mailadresse på studerendeonline.dk

Application
Please submit your application electronically by clicking “Apply”.

Your application should include:

• Motivation letter
• Curriculum vitae
• Copies of relevant academic diplomas
• List of publications, incl. 2–3 selected scientific works
• Contact information for references

Statens Serum Institut and The University of Copenhagen encourages all qualified candidates to apply regardless of age, gender, religion, disability, or ethnicity.

About SSI
We offer a working environment where collaboration, professional exchange, job satisfaction, and mutual respect are key values.

SSI is an internationally recognised workplace that addresses both national and global public health challenges. You will become part of an organisation with 900 employees carrying out meaningful work that strengthens human and animal health through research and preparedness.

We are a flexible and family-friendly workplace with a 37-hour working week, including lunch breaks, and flexible working hours.

SSI has its own sports association and staff association, both of which offer a wide range of activities. We are centrally located in Copenhagen, with easy access to public transport as well as good parking facilities.

Application deadline: Apply no later than 6. September 2026

Lokation: København