Make your mark for patients
UCB is an international biopharmaceutical company primarily engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical and biotechnological products. It specializes in researching therapeutic solutions for patients suffering from severe diseases, treated by specialists, particularly in the fields of the central nervous system (including epilepsy) and inflammation (including allergies).
The Braine-l'Alleud site specializes in chemical synthesis, development, manufacturing, and packaging of pharmaceutical products.
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Overall Mission
As part of a VIE program, the successful candidate will join an R&D/Discovery team to contribute to the valorization of more than 15 years of historical chemical reaction data.
This mission is positioned at the intersection of synthetic chemistry, data science, and R&D digitalization, with a direct impact on future laboratory practices.
Phase 1 – Data Structuring and Quality
The initial objective will be to transform a large corpus of heterogeneous data into a reliable, consistent, and exploitable dataset.
The VIE will be responsible for:
Cleaning, curating, and harmonizing datasets (formats, units, nomenclature, missing fields, inconsistencies)Defining, documenting, and applying data standards tailored to synthetic chemistry (reagents, solvents, operating conditions, performance, yields, etc.)Implementing quality and completeness indicators to monitor data robustness and evolutionContributing to data modeling (schemas, ontologies, reference frameworks) to facilitate future usePhase 2 – Scientific Exploitation and Knowledge Generation
Once the data is structured, the VIE will actively contribute to its analysis to extract actionable insights for chemists:
Performing exploratory analyses to identify:Optimal reaction conditions for given transformationsHistorical statistics (success rates, yields, reproducibility, variability)Detecting recurring patterns, trends, and key success or failure factors in chemical reactionsProducing analyses, visualizations, reports, and summaries directly usable by chemistry teamsContributing to the development of data-driven decision-support tools based on historical datasetsPhase 3 – Integration into Modern Systems and Advanced Perspectives
At a later stage, the mission will aim to ensure the sustainability and operational use of the data:
Making datasets compatible with modern systems (ELN, LIMS, internal chemical databases)Preparing data for advanced research based on chemical structures (annotation, reaction mapping, feature extraction)If data maturity allows, contributing to:
Exploration or development of predictive models (Machine Learning / AI)Supporting the prediction of reaction conditions, performance, or probability of successYour Profile
Education:
Master’s degree or early-stage PhD in:
Chemistry (organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, materials science, etc.)CheminformaticsData science applied to chemistryOr a hybrid background (chemistry / computer science / data science)
Languages:
Professional level of English required
Technical Skills:
Solid understanding of synthetic chemistry and chemical reactionsExperience or strong interest in data handling (data cleaning, structuring, curation) and experimental data analysisProgramming skills, ideally in Python (pandas, numpy, matplotlib, optionally RDKit)Interest or basic knowledge in:
Machine Learning / Data ScienceCheminformatics and structure-based searchPlease note that this program is in partnership with Business France, and we follow the prerequisites required by Business France to carry out a VIE assignment. The main participation prerequisites are as follows:
Be between 18 and 28 years old; Hold the nationality of a member country of the European Economic Area; Have not worked or lived in the country where the mission will take place; Be available to dedicate yourself to the mission full-time; If you have French nationality or dual nationality, be in compliance with the national service obligations of France (Numéro Identifiant Défense); Have a clean criminal record. If you do not meet all these conditions, we will not be able to consider your application.
