Research Associate in BioHybrid Systems

Location: Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus

Job Summary

The Department of Chemical Engineering is seeking a Research Associate to develop the design principles for a swimming biohybrid microrobot, where engineered liposomes are coupled to motile bacteria that can ferry them to target sites. It will lay the foundation for programmable bionic technologies where living cells act as nanoparticle transporters that carry therapeutic liposomes directly to tumours. Working under the supervision of Dr Yuval Elani, Dr Francesca Ceroni, and Prof Karen Polizzi , you will help establish the groundwork of a frontier research area, where living cellular technologies are coupled with synthetic nanoparticle therapeutics.

You will develop a suite of chemical biology, soft matter, biochemical engineering, microfluidic, and synthetic biology tools in order to: (i) build a functioning platform (ii) assess their performance on in vitro microfluidic testbeds and (iii) gain a molecular-level understanding of our system, enabling optimisation and downstream exploitation in future applications.

The post is targeted at applicants with a multi-disciplinary expertise in one or more of the following areas: synthetic biology, microfluidics, chemical biology, artificial cells, and soft matter.

This post offers an excellent opportunity for academic career advancement in Europe’s number one hub for chemical biology and synthetic biology. Imperial College’s synthetic biology facilities are second-to-none, and include the fabriCELL centre for artificial cell research, and the Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology.  The candidate will also have access to a suite of career development opportunities at the Imperial Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre and the department of Chemical Engineering.

Duties and responsibilities

• To creatively craft their own project direction
• To pursue a world-leading, frontier research programme  
• To help manage the day-to-day operations of the host research groups
• To assume leadership roles within the group, and help supervise undergraduate and PhD students
• To direct the work of small research teams
• To identify and work with collaborators within the group, Imperial, and other universities
• To help write research grants
• To engage in entrepreneurship activities relating to the project
• To present findings to colleagues and at international conferences
• To submit publications to refereed journals

Essential requirements 

• Hold a PhD (or about to submit a PhD) in Chemistry, Bioengineering, Biophysics Chemical Engineering or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience.
• Practical experience in a broad range of techniques including for example: microfluidics, cell culture, gene circuit design, synthetic biology, fluorescence techniques, biochemical assays, microscopy, electron microscopy, analytical techniques, cell free protein expression, molecular biology
• Thrives in working in vibrant, multi-disciplinary, and collaborative teams
• Able to supervise research students, and to lead sub-teams of research working on aligned projects  

*Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant within the salary range £38,194 – £41,388 per annum

Further Information

Start date is expected to be around September 2023, although there is flexibility on this. This contract is for 24 months, with the possibility of an extension. The post is based in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London (South Kensington Campus).

*New appointments will have a maximum starting salary of £43,093 based on experience. 

For further details on the role please contact Dr Yuval Elani at y.elani@imperial.ac.uk.

To apply, please click on the 'Apply' button above.  Candidates will need to complete an online application.

Further information about the post is available in the job description.

Should you have any queries about the application process please contact chemeng.staffing@imperial.ac.uk.

Closing date: Midnight on Monday 29^th May 2023

For technical issues when applying online please email support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk

The College is currently trialling a Work Location Framework until early 2023.  Hybrid working may be considered for this role and the role holder may be expected to work 60% or more of their time onsite, with 40% the minimum time spent onsite.  The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/ 

Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment. We are an Athena SWAN Silver award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident Employer and work in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.