Available from January 2027 · Vienna

Precise at the bench, honest with the data.

I’m Alvar Pascual García, a biotechnologist (MSc, BOKU Vienna) with hands-on research experience at the Gregor Mendel Institute and BOKU. I bring molecular biology, microscopy, structural tools and food-industry quality control to R&D, QC and lab teams across biotech and pharma.

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01

About

I like experiments that end with a clear answer, even when the answer is no.

I studied Biochemistry at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, graduating with honours in cell biology, and moved to Vienna in 2024 for the MSc in Biotechnology at BOKU, where I defended my thesis on non-canonical autophagy in Arabidopsis thaliana.

From January 2025 to June 2026 I was a research assistant in Yasin Dagdas’s group at the Gregor Mendel Institute (Vienna BioCenter), working with postdoc Jose Julián Valenzuela. When Dagdas relocated to Heidelberg, I helped carry the ongoing work into the newly independent Groß/Valenzuela lab at BOKU.

Before research I worked in food-safety quality control at Campofrío in Burgos, Spain: sample management, microbiological testing and the discipline of a routine lab. Outside the lab I enjoy design, 3D modelling and building small tools for myself.

Portrait of Alvar Pascual García
Based in
Vienna, Austria
Degree
MSc Biotechnology, BOKU
Languages
Spanish (native) · English (professional, Cambridge B2) · German (A1, learning)
Available
From 1 January 2027
Licence
Driving licence, class B
  1. i.

    Bench first

    Most of my work is hands-on: cloning and sequence-verifying constructs, transforming E. coli and Agrobacterium, generating transgenic lines and running the assays myself.

  2. ii.

    Models are hypotheses

    I use docking and structural models (AutoDock Vina, AlphaFold, ChimeraX) to decide what to test, then test it at the bench. When a prediction fails, that is a result too.

  3. iii.

    Clean, traceable routine

    Quality control taught me sample management, sterile technique and doing routine work right every time. I bring that to every lab I join.

Skills & tools

Molecular biology

  • GreenGate / Golden Gate cloning
  • PCR
  • Agarose gel electrophoresis
  • DNA extraction
  • Sequence verification
  • Plasmid design (SnapGene)
  • E. coli DH5α transformation
  • Agrobacterium GV3101

Plant biology

  • Arabidopsis thaliana
  • Floral dipping
  • Transgenic line generation
  • Seedling treatments
  • Herbicide-response assays
  • Root-length phenotyping

Microscopy & imaging

  • Confocal microscopy
  • Huygens deconvolution
  • FIJI / ImageJ

Microbiology & QC

  • Salmonella detection
  • TEMPO automated counts
  • Culture media
  • Gluten & phosphate tests
  • Sample management (iLab)
  • Sterilization & lab hygiene

Computational & structural

  • AutoDock Vina
  • ChimeraX
  • AlphaFold models
  • FATCAT alignment

Beyond the lab

  • Blender + Molecular Nodes
  • Python scripting
  • React (with Claude Code)
  • Event booklet design
  • MS Office

02

Selected projects

Research and side projects, illustrated with public structures rendered in ChimeraX and things I built.

Cartoon model of a plant receptor kinase domain predicted by AlphaFold, N-lobe in amber and C-lobe in green AlphaFold model

MSc thesis · GMI → BOKU · 2025–2026

Decoding ATG8ylation under cell wall damage

When the cell wall fails, the vacuole risks collapsing. Plants protect it by attaching ATG8 directly to the vacuolar membrane, a non-canonical form of autophagy. My MSc thesis asked what switches this on: I characterised candidate regulators in transgenic Arabidopsis lines by confocal and electron microscopy. Results are unpublished, so details are available on request.

Along the way I covered the whole loop at the bench, from building constructs to imaging root tips. Funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and carried out at GMI and BOKU.

  1. CloneGreenGate, SnapGene
  2. VerifyDNA extraction, sequencing
  3. TransformE. coli → Agrobacterium
  4. Floral dipTransgenic lines
  5. ImageConfocal, root tips
  6. MeasureHuygens, FIJI
Thesis defended, BOKU 2026 AlphaFold survey
Cellulose synthase trimer with the glucan chains it makes, from a public cryo-EM structure Cellulose synthase trimer · PDB 6WLB

MSc side project · BOKU · 2026

From docking scores to root assays

Structure-based virtual screening of analogues of the cellulose synthase inhibitor ES20-1 against the CESA6 catalytic domain, using cryo-EM, crystal and AlphaFold references cross-validated with FATCAT. I then took the top predictions to the bench and tested them in an Arabidopsis Col-0 root-growth inhibition assay.

  • AutoDock Vina
  • AlphaFold
  • FATCAT
  • ChimeraX
  • Root-growth assay
Structure comparison
Chemokine receptor CCR5 with the HIV drug maraviroc bound in its pocket CCR5 with maraviroc · PDB 4MBS

BSc thesis · UCLM · 2024

Modeling CCR5 for molecular docking

Bachelor’s thesis on modeling the chemokine receptor CCR5, the co-receptor HIV uses to enter immune cells, and docking ligands against it as a therapeutic target. My first step into structural biology.

  • Protein modeling
  • Molecular docking
  • GPCRs
Honours in cell biology AlphaFold benchmark
Cartoon model of the ATG12–ATG5–ATG16 complex, the machinery that attaches ATG8 to membranes Hover to playPlays when in view

Side project · 3D visualization · 2026

Autophagy at the vacuole, animated

Python-scripted scenes of ATG8ylation at the tonoplast, here the ATG12–ATG5–ATG16 complex (PDB 4GDK) that attaches ATG8 to membranes. Built with Blender and Molecular Nodes, and with ChimeraX, from PDB and AlphaFold structures.

  • Blender
  • Molecular Nodes
  • ChimeraX
  • Python
Blender scenes ChimeraX renders
Cartoon model of Salmonella flagellin, with the variable D3 domain that defines the serotype highlighted in amber Salmonella flagellin · PDB 1IO1

Industry · Campofrío Food Group, Burgos · 2023

Food-safety quality control

Three months in a routine microbiology and physicochemistry lab of a large meat producer. Meat, surface and water samples were logged in iLab and taken through Salmonella detection (enrichment in Fraser broth, then SX2 tubes at 42 °C), automated TEMPO microbial counts, culture-media preparation, and rapid gluten and phosphate tests whose result decides what goes on the product label.

  • Salmonella detection
  • TEMPO counts
  • Culture media
  • Gluten & phosphate tests
  • iLab
  • Sterile technique
QC calculations in Python
Felix, the app's pixel-art fox, on a soft green and amber gradient Felix, the app's mascot

Side project · Web & Android app · 2026

Deutsch Trainer

The app I built to learn German: grammar topics with theory and exercises, vocabulary with Excel import, mini-games, streaks and a notebook for class notes. The Android version, Deutsch mit Felix, works offline in Spanish, English, Ukrainian and Turkish. Built with React and Vite using Claude Code.

  • React
  • Vite
  • Capacitor
  • Gemini API
Code

03

Experience & education

  1. 01/2025 – 06/2026Research

    Research Assistant

    Gregor Mendel Institute (Vienna BioCenter) → Groß/Valenzuela Lab, BOKU · Vienna

    • Cloned protein candidates via GreenGate, transformed E. coli DH5α, extracted and sequence-verified DNA, then transformed Agrobacterium GV3101 and generated transgenic Arabidopsis lines by floral dipping.
    • Confocal microscopy of root tips in 5-day-old seedlings under different treatments; deconvolution in Huygens and root-length measurement in FIJI/ImageJ.
    • Herbicide-response assays in Arabidopsis, supported by molecular docking predictions (AutoDock Vina, ChimeraX).
    • Helped move ongoing work from Yasin Dagdas’s group at GMI into the newly independent Groß/Valenzuela lab at BOKU after Dagdas relocated to Heidelberg.

  2. 04/2026Event

    Early-Career Researchers Organizing Committee

    Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium, SFB “Targeted Protein Degradation” · Vienna

    • Organization and logistics of a two-day international symposium on proteostasis, targeted protein degradation and autophagy (University of Vienna / Max Perutz Labs, Vienna BioCenter).
    • Designed the event booklets.

  3. 2024 – 2026Education

    MSc in Biotechnology

    University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) · Vienna

    • Thesis: “Non-canonical autophagy in Arabidopsis thaliana”, successfully defended.
    • Courses include Cell and Molecular Biology, Bioprocess Engineering, Cell Factories, Quality Management in Biotechnology, Applied Mathematics and Biostatistics, and Patent Law and Strategic Patent Management.

  4. 06/2023 – 09/2023Industry

    Quality Control

    Campofrío Food Group · Burgos, Spain

    • Managed meat, surface and water samples in iLab and prepared them for microbiological analyses, including Salmonella detection.
    • Operated automated TEMPO systems for microbial counts, prepared culture media, and ran gluten and phosphate tests.
    • Maintained laboratory hygiene and sterilized equipment in a routine food-safety testing lab.

  5. 2020 – 2024Education

    BSc in Biochemistry

    Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), honours in cell biology · Spain

    • Thesis: “CCR5 receptor modeling and molecular docking in therapeutic targets.”
    • Courses include Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Molecular Physiology of Plants, Immunology, Enzymology, and Bioethics, Biosafety and Quality Control.

04 · Contact

Let’s talk.

I’m looking for my next role in biotech or pharma: R&D, quality control or any lab team where careful, well-documented work matters. Based in Vienna and available from January 2027. Email is the quickest way to reach me.

Write me an email Download CV (PDF)