Post-doctoral Research Assistant – Developing CHLORAD as a technology for crop improvement using wheat as a model, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB
The Department of Plant Sciences is seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Assistant for 24 months. This position is funded by a UKRI-BBSRC grant to Professor Paul Jarvis and the work is to be conducted in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB; and in association with collaborators at the John Innes Centre (Norwich), NIAB (Cambridge), Rothamsted, (Harpenden), and the National Plant Phenomics Centre (Aberystwyth). The research topic is ‘Improving yields and stress tolerance in wheat by using CHLORAD as a technology’.
To address the challenge of food security in the context of population growth and climate change, it will be essential to develop improved crop varieties. Through research on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we have made significant breakthroughs that may be highly relevant in this regard; in particular, the discovery of a novel, ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic system that controls chloroplasts and other plastids, termed CHLORAD (chloroplast-associated protein degradation). The aim of this project is to develop the use of CHLORAD as a new technology for crop improvement, focusing on wheat.
Duties: To plan, troubleshoot, and expertly execute the research plan of the project; to present and discuss the project and its data, in the context of relevant literature, in interactions with collaborators and stakeholders and at regular lab group meetings; to analyse and prepare the data and contribute to the preparation of manuscripts for publication, research grant applications, and patent applications; to contribute to the daily organisation and management of the research lab; to actively foster the intellectual environment of the research group through interaction with colleagues; to supervise research students and other junior researchers in the research group; to contribute to outreach activities relevant to the project.
The postholder should have: a PhD or equivalent in a relevant area, and a corresponding publication record; experience of molecular biology, plant genetics and genomics, and plant physiology research; high motivation with intellectual curiosity and rigour; ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks, and to assimilate and evaluate the relevant literature and its implications; willingness and ability to communicate effectively with collaborators and co-workers to progress the work; ability to present data to collaborators, colleagues, and non-specialist audiences. Desirable: experience of research on cereals or other crop plants (especially wheat); experience of working with mutants generated by TILLING and/or CRISPR/Cas9; experience of research on chloroplasts and/or other subcellular organelles; ability to write effectively.
The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on Tuesday 9 August 2022. The appointee must under normal circumstances be in post no later than 1 December 2022. In exceptional cases, a later start date may be possible. Informal enquiries should be directed to Professor Jarvis at paul.jarvis@plants.ox.ac.uk.
Excellent benefits include 38 days’ leave. A full-time position, 37.5 hours per week.
Contact Person : Recruitment Administrator Vacancy ID : 159010
Contact Phone : 01865 275000 Closing Date & Time : 09-Aug-2022 12:00
Pay Scale : STANDARD GRADE 7 Contact Email : recruit@plants.ox.ac.uk
Salary (£) : £33,309 – £40,927 p.a.
Click on the link(s) below to view documents:
159010 JD – Jarvis – BBSRC-FOF July 2022.docx