Employment:

• Associate professor (1999-) at Institute of Chemistry, Department of Organic Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest (ELTE)
  Laboratory for chiroptical structure analysis

Teaching experience:

• Graduate course:
  • 1985-87 Basic Organic Chemistry for Chemistry teacher trainees
  • 2004-2007 Basic Organic Chemistry for Biology teacher trainees
• Practical courses:
  • Laboratory course in Organic Chemistry for Chemistry teacher trainees (1975-2007); Chemistry BSc students (2007-)
  • Special preparative laboratory course in Peptide and Sugar Chemistry for Chemistry MSc students (2012-)
  • Special laboratory courses on chiroptical spectroscopy (ECD) in Organic Chemistry for ungraduated and graduated students - optional course (1993- 2010); Chemistry MSc students (2011-)
  • Supervision of graduate and postgraduate students (1994- ) Summer schools (TEMPUS, Eötvös graduate school)
• Textbook:
  • Experimental Organic Chemistry - Laboratory Guide (1998, 2012 co-author)
  • Basic stereochemistry and chiroptical spectroscopy (2004, co-author)

Research interests:
Peptide chemistry, spectroscopy, bioorganic chemistry

• Applied chiroptical spectroscopy (conformation, absolute configuration)
• Peptide synthesis (solid- and solution phase) and conformational studies of biologically active peptide fragments. Study of structure-activity relationship. Synthesis and chiroptical spectroscopic studies of model compounds (cyclic peptides and peptido-mimetics).
• Spectroscopic studies (ECD, FTIR) on cation-peptide, cation-protein and peptide-macromolecule interactions.
• Metal complexes: transitonal metal-ion with chiral ligands: synthesis, separation and structure elucidation
• Photolysis of disulfid bridges in peptides, proteins; the role of aromatic side chaines and cation-pi effect in the photolysis; deduce of the photolysis with fluorescence spectroscopy and HPLC

Fellowhips, study-trips (selected):

• 1983-84 Ruhr Universität, Bochum (Germany) in the Laboratory of Prof. Günther Snatzke (H. Hertz Stiftung), Research Associate, 15 months
• 1984-2002 Study trips : University of Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain), University of Nottingham, Nottingham (UK), University of Leipzig, Leipzig (Germany), University Kyushu, Japan (Japan-Hungarian Governmental program)
• 2001 University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld (Germany) Prof. N. Sewald, DFG-fellowship, visiting professorship, (3 months)

Projects, Cooperation:

• 1982-2014 Hungarian research projects (OM, FKFP, OMFB, OTKA) as participant, and principal investigator
• 1995-2001 Bilaterial projects of Universities as participant, and principal investigator: Univ. of Zagreb – ELTE; 1995-2000; Univ. Padova-ELTE 2001
• 1997-2000 Participant of "Balaton" program (Lyon Claude Bernard University - ELTE 1997-1999); Japan-Hungarian Bilaterial Govermental Research Program (TéT) (1998-2000)
• 1998- Participant and principal investigator of Research Cooperation Program (DAAD-MÖB) with Norbert Sewald professor, Universität Bielefeld, Germany [Home Page]
• 2002- Participant and principal investigator of nonstop research cooperation with Jadwiga Frelek professzor’s team, Polish Academy of Science, Institute of Organic chemistry, Warsaw, Poland [Home Page]
• 2001-2007 Bilaterial Govermental Research Program (Flamand-Hungarian TéT program) with Ignace Hanssens and Hans Deckmyn professors (Protein Biophysics – IRC KULAK and Laboratory for Thrombosis Research of KULAK) Catholic University of Leuven Campus Kortrijk, Belgium [Home Page]

Awards:

• 1997-1998 elismerő oklevél (3) tudományos diákköri témavezetésért (2 OTDK, 1 TDK)
• 2000 Kisfaludy Lajos award (Kisfaludy Lajos Foundation)
• 2001-3 Széchenyi Professorship (Ministry of Culture)
• 2008 Pro Universitate award silver medal (ELTE)

Activities:

• Conferences: 25th European Peptide Symposium (1998, Budapest), Symposium on Biochirality (2000, Szeged), 9th International Conference on Circular Dichroism (2003, Budapest)
• Public Relations: Principal investigator of PR Association (ELTE, Institute of Chemistry; 2006-2011)

Memberships:

• 1985- Hungarian Chemical Society
• 1990- European Peptide Society

Publications:

• 110 papers in English in international journals, 2 book chapters in Hungarian
• Lectures/posters: ~80.

Selected publications:

1. FRELEK, J., MAJER-DECKER, ZS., SNTAZKE, G., Determination of absolute configuration of a-aminoalkylphosphonous acids from their CD in presence of Ru2(O2CC3H7)4Cl., Liebigs Ann. Chem. 281 (1988) [abstract]


2. KAJTÁR, M., KAJTÁR, J., MAJER, ZS., ZEWDU, M., HOLLÓSI, M., Secondary solvent effects on the CD bands of thioamides, Spectrochim. Acta 48A 87-93 (1992) [abstract]


3. FARKAS, V., VASS, E., HANSSENS, I., MAJER, ZS.*, HOLLÓSI, M., Cyclic peptide models of the Ca2+-binding loop of a-lactalbumin, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 13 5310-5320 (2005) [abstract]


4. JOST, M., WEIGELT, S., HUBERT, T., MAJER, ZS., GREIE, J.-C., ALTENDORF, K., SEWALD, N., Synthesis, and Structural and Biological Studies of Efrapeptin C Analogues Chemistry & Biodiversity 4(6) 1170-1182 (2007) [abstract]


5. VANHOOREN, A., ILLYÉS, E., MAJER ZS., HANSSENS, I. Fluorescence contributions of individual Trp residues in goat a-lactalbumin, Biochim. Biophys. Acta (Proteins and proteomics) 1764 1586-1591 (2006) [abstract]


6. BÁNÓCZI, Z., MEZŐ, G., WINDBERG, E., URAY, K., MAJER, ZS., HUDECZ, F., Synthesis and antibody recognition of synthetic antigens from MUC1, J. Pep. Sci. 14 610-616 (2008) [abstract]


7. CSÍK, G., EGYEKI, M., HERÉNYI, L., MAJER, ZS., TÓTH, K., Role of structure-proteins in the porphyrin–DNA interaction, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology 96 207-215 (2009) [abstract]


8. SHANMUGAM, G., POLAVARAPU, P. L., LÁNG, E.,MAJER, ZS., Conformational analysis of amyloid precursor protein fragment containing amino acids 667–676, and the effect of D-Asp and iso-Asp substitution at Asp672 residue Journal of Structural Biology 177 621-629 (2012) [abstract]


9. MAJER, ZS., SZILVÁGYI, G., BENEDEK, L., CSÁMPAI, A., HOLLÓSI, M., VASS, E. Chelate Structure of a Dirhodium–Amino Acid Complex Identified by Chiroptical and NMR Spectroscopy Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013 3020-3027 [abstract]