Research Fellow (108875-0324)

Duration: Fixed-Term Contract until 13.02.26

About the Role

About the whole project

The successful applicant for this role will join a new interdisciplinary and cross University team seeking to engineering new biological technologies for future drug discovery.

The team seek to create new platform technologies for the enhanced production of membrane proteins from bacterial cell factories with the long-term goal of increasing the production of pharmaceutical targets for drug screening and production of enzymes for sustainable chemical production or the food industry.

The project itself seeks to develop and then apply computer aided design tool to identify designs which facilitate both production and cell growth and to engineer autonomous feedback control strategies that enable living cells to self-regulate protein production in response to stress and therefore maximise production and yield.

The team will also design and implement new cellular regulatory systems capable of tuning the cell's lipid production rate so that the cell membranes' composition and physical properties can be tuned to meet those needed for optimal membrane protein function.

This is a collaborative interdisciplinary project and will involve five newly appointed researchers across the research groups of Dr Alexander Darlington (Engineering, University of Warwick), Prof. Stansfeld (Life Sciences, University of Warwick), Dr Douglas Browning, Dr Alan Goddard and Prof. Roslyn Bill (of Aston University). The project team will also be engaging the UK’s wider Engineering Biology community through research exchanges and dissemination events. 

About this Modelling Role with the project

This post-doctoral role seeks to develop the predictive mathematical models and computer aided design tools which capture the dynamics of microbial cell growth and protein production. You will develop these models in close collaboration with collaboration with experimental colleagues in the labs of Dr Douglas Browning and Dr Alan Goddard. You will use these models to design production strategies and work with Dr Browning’s and Dr Goddard’s teams to guide the implement these strategies in living cells. The successful applicant will also work closely with the research groups headed by Prof. Stansfeld and Prof. Roslyn Bill and will have opportunities to engage with industrial partners in the biotech industry.

For informal enquiries, please contact Alex Darlington * a.darlington.1@warwick.ac.uk.

About You

You will have a PhD in a relevant discipline (e.g. Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics), specialist knowledge of modelling biological methods and proficiency in relevant programming languages such as MATLAB, python, Julia or Mathematica. You will have proven ability in research and evidence of quality research output in relevant field.

You will have excellent verbal and written communication skills, time management and IT skills.

It would be advantageous to have expertise in dynamic systems modelling and model development (including calibration/data fitting) in either synthetic biology, biotechnology, or systems biology.

About the research team

The successful applicant will join a growing research group headed by Dr Alexander Darlington which is composed of three PhD students and two recently started post-doctoral researchers. They sit within the “Biomedical and Biological Systems” and “Systems Modelling and Control” Research Groups within the School of Engineering which are home to over 15 academic staff.

Closing date: 8th April 2024 at 11.55pm

Full details of the duties and selection criteria for this role can be found in the vacancy advert on the University of Warwick's jobs pages. You will be routed to this when you click on the Apply button.

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