3 Postdoc & 2 research assistant positions available in 3 different research groups in plant biology, computational biology & mathematical modelling.
1 – Horticultural Facility Cleaner
Applications are invited for the position of Horticultural Facility Cleaner at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, a Research Institute which focuses on Plant Developmental Biology.
As part of the Support Services team, the role-holder will report directly to the Horticultural Facility Manager and work alongside two other team members to keep the £4 million plant growth facility supported and maintained to the highest standard. The Horticultural Facility comprises 6 glasshouse areas and 42 growth chambers. The day-to-day activities of the role-holder are essential to the correct functioning of the research activities of the Laboratory.
Successful candidates must have experience of cleaning within a scientific or medical environment and ability to adhere to strict protocols. Experience working in containment facilities would be advantageous. Duties will include cleaning of service and growing areas, work with chemicals, deep cleaning of growing areas, dealing with biological waste, restocking of consumables and assisting the Horticulture team.
Good observation skills and attention to detail are essential. A flexible approach to work is required as this will be essential when carrying out a range of duties, including providing support and assistance to other members of the Horticultural Team. General manual handling duties will be required.
The Laboratory provides a welcoming and collaborative environment with a wide-range of family-friendly benefits and development opportunities.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 1 year in the first instance.
We welcome applications from individuals who wish to be considered for part-time working or other flexible working arrangements.
Click the ‘Apply’ button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please quote reference PT31217 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Further information
| Salary: £20,600-£23,487 | Ref. PT31217 | Deadline: 22 May 2022 |
2 – Research Assistant in Plant Biology x 2
Applications are invited for two Research Assistant positions in the group of Dr Sarah Robinson at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU). The aim of the Robinson lab is to investigate plant development, particularly from a mechanical point of view. We are looking for candidates who are excited about plant development.
Candidates must have a background with a bachelor’s degree in plant biology, synthetic biology or related fields. Expertise in plant care and management is necessary and experience with Arabidopsis thaliana is preferred. Foundations in molecular biology and molecular cloning is required. Experience in microscopy is preferred and experience with biomechanics is beneficial. The candidates should have a willingness and ability to learn and work with new methodologies.
The successful applicants will be strong team players, highly solution orientated and self-motivated. Good organisational skills are required. Excellent interpersonal skills are essential, alongside the ability to work independently and with others, with a high degree of accuracy including outstanding record keeping.
The Robinson lab would particularly like to encourage applications from individuals who wish to work part-time.
The Laboratory provides a welcoming and collaborative environment with a wide- range of family-friendly benefits and development opportunities.
Scientific enquiries apart from the formal application should be directed to sarah.robinson@slcu.cam.ac.uk.
Please include a cover letter detailing why you are interested in joining the lab, in addition to your CV.
The post is available from September 2022.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.
Click the ‘Apply’ button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please quote reference PT31113 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Further information
| Salary: £27,116-£31,406 | Ref. PT31113 | Deadline: 29 May 2022 |
3 – Research Associate in Computational Biology (Plant Circadian Clock)
Applications are invited for a BBSRC funded Post-doctoral Research Associate position to work in the group of Dr James Locke at the Sainsbury Laboratory, in close collaboration with Professor Alex Webb of the Department of Plant Sciences, focused on the modelling of the circadian (24-hour) clock in plants.
The position involves developing the first model of the Wheat circadian clock. Wheat is a key crop and understanding the clock in wheat will have broad significance as the clock controls many key processes in plants. The candidate will analyse new RNA-seq clock data collected in Professor Webb’s group and use machine learning techniques to develop an optimised computational model of the core wheat clock network. In addition, the successful candidate will investigate the effects of temperature and noise in gene regulation on the wheat clock. The successful candidate will have experience of modelling gene regulatory networks and should have experience of ODE modelling. Candidates must have extensive modelling experience in computer languages such as Matlab, C++, Python or R., and have at least one publication in the field of computational biology or systems biology.
Applicants must have, or be close to obtaining, a PhD in a related field such as systems biology, mathematics, or physics. Good communication skills are essential as the post holder will need to work well in a team and collaborate with wet-lab researchers. Candidates should also demonstrate a history of science communication (e.g. presentations, outreach activities, teaching).
Where a PhD has yet to be awarded the appointment will initially be made at Research Assistant level (Grade 5) and amended to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon the award of PhD.
The Laboratory provides a welcoming and collaborative environment with a wide-range of family-friendly benefits and development opportunities.
Informal scientific enquiries should be directed to Dr Locke at: James.Locke@slcu.cam.ac.uk
The post is available immediately.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2.5 years in the first instance.
We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy.
Click the ‘Apply’ button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please quote reference PT30967 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Further information
| Salary: £33,309-£40,927 | Ref. PT30967 | Deadline: 15 May 2022 |
4 – Research Associate in Mathematical Modelling
Applications are invited for a Post-doctoral Research Associate position in the group of Dr. Francois Nedelec at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU), to carry out fundamental research in the field of mathematical modelling. The aim of the group is to build models to physically analyse emergent properties, given the known molecular components involved in these processes.
This research will focus on (1) plant morphogenesis or (2) chromosome segregation. Project (1) is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Fundation and is aimed principally to promote collaborations within the Sainsbury Laboratory or more widely with the plant research community. Project (2) is funded by the ERC Synergy project BIOMECANET which is a collaboration of the Nedelec group with the experimental working groups of Andrea Musacchio (MPI of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, DE) and Thomas Surrey (CRG, Barcelona, SP).
BIOMECANET aims to reconstitute crucial aspects of cell division in vitro with purified components and realistically simulate these processes in the computer. The emphasis will be on i) the cell cycle, which is a dynamical reaction-diffusion system that controls the timing of key events during division and ii) the cytoskeleton which involves chemistry and intracellular mechanics of filaments, mostly microtubules. The overall aim is to integrate these two key pieces of machinery to reconstruct the processes of chromosome bi-orientation and segregation. The position is funded with the aim of integrating experimental data with models, and exciting possibilities for collaborations are offered with this project.
Applicants should have, or be close to obtaining a Ph.D. in computational biology, physics, applied mathematics, computer science or related field and have a proven track record of scientific publications. Prior experience in modelling of biological systems, or expertise in systems biology and/or theoretical biophysics, in general, would be advantageous. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to develop skills in mathematical modelling, advanced numerical simulations and data/image analysis.
Fully involved in the basic research in these areas whilst also writing up their research work for presentation and publication, the post holder will have the opportunity to assist in the supervision of student projects, and to engage in teaching if desired. Good and effective communication skills are essential (e.g. presentations, outreach activities).
Where a PhD has yet to be awarded the appointment will initially be made at Research Assistant level (Grade 5) and amended to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon the award of PhD.
The Laboratory provides a welcoming and collaborative environment with a wide-range of family-friendly benefits and development opportunities.
Please ensure that you upload a copy of your full CV with publications list, a supporting statement and contact information of three referees
Fixed-term: The funding for this post is available until 31.1.2024 in the first instance.
Scientific enquiries apart from the formal application should be directed to Dr Francois Nedelec at Francois.Nedelec@slcu.cam.ac.uk.
Click the ‘Apply’ button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please quote reference PT31139 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Further information
| Salary: £33,309-£40,927 | Ref. PT31139 | Deadline: 29 May 2022 |
5 – Research Associate in Plant Systems Biology
Applications are invited for a Post-doctoral Research Associate position in the group of Dr James Locke at the Sainsbury Laboratory, to carry out fundamental research in the field of plant systems biology. The project will focus on understanding plant gene regulation at the single-cell level. The project will use single-cell time-lapse microscopy and single-cell RNA-seq to examine the mechanisms underlying dynamic and noisy gene regulation in plants. The project requires both experimental and quantitative skills.
The Locke group encourages a collaborative and open research approach and has a strong record of training interdisciplinary postdocs to gain group leader positions. The direction of the project will be developed with the successful candidate.
Applicants must have a PhD in Plant Development, Systems Biology, Biology, Physics, or related field and have expertise in experimental systems biology.
Where a PhD has yet to be awarded the appointment will initially be made at Research Assistant level (Grade 5) and amended to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon the award of PhD.
Successful candidates will have experience in systems biology approaches such as time-lapse microscopy and assays for gene expression, as well as experience of quantitative analysis of data, e.g. automated image processing and/or quantitative image analysis. Experience in Matlab, R or an equivalent software package is desirable. Knowledge of theoretical approaches such as computational modelling is also desirable. Publications in the field of systems or developmental biology are required.
Good communication skills are essential as the post holder will need to work well in a team and collaborate with other researchers in the Institute. Candidates should also demonstrate a history of science communication (e.g. presentations, outreach activities, teaching).
Informal scientific enquiries should be directed to Dr Locke at: James.Locke@slcu.cam.ac.uk
The post is available immediately. Available for 2.5 years in the first instance.
We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy.
Click the ‘Apply’ button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please quote reference PT31062 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Further information
| Salary: £33,309-£40,927 | Ref. PT31062 | Deadline: 25 May 2022 |