Research Fellow

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £34,980 to £44,263 with potential progression once in post to £46,974

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to January 2027

Closes: 22/10/2023

Role Summary

The Gibbs and Sanchez-Moran labs in the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham are looking for a Research Fellow to join in early 2024. The Researcher will work on the BBSRC-funded project “MEIAD: Investigating roles for meiosis associated degradation during meiotic recombination in plants”. This project aims to use complementary genetic, molecular cytogenetic & protein biochemistry approaches to investigate the role of the ubiquitin proteasome system in regulating crossover (CO) determination and homologous recombination during plant (Arabidopsis) meiosis. The MEIAD project will therefore uncover how two major cellular processes - recombination & proteasomal degradation - interact to influence genetic inheritance in plants, providing a framework for understanding this critical process that could be targeted for manipulating recombination in diverse species.

Working alongside a second Research Fellow with expertise in molecular cytogenetics, the successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Functionally characterising the key proteolytic components involved in regulating crossovers (including E3 ubiquitin ligases, associated proteins, and the 26S proteasome).
• Identifying their direct meiotic ubiquitin/degradation targets (using targeted protein degradation assays and proteomics-based approaches, including IP-MS and TurboID).
• Defining the synergistic & spatiotemporal activity of MEIAD components at chromosome-axes during meiotic progression and CO establishment.
• Investigating how pharmacological and genetic manipulation of MEIAD modulates meiosis (in particular, CO number and localisation).
• Taking a lead role in helping to design experiments, present data, and write research manuscripts.

The Researcher will be based in the Plant Science & Food Security theme within the School of Biosciences. The School of Biosciences hosts >60 research groups working on various aspects of plant and microbial science. The candidate will have the opportunity to assist with supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Person Specification

The ideal candidate will have a PhD (or one near to completion) in the area of molecular plant biology and/or protein biochemistry. Prior demonstration of working with proteins (e.g., Western blotting, immunoprecipitation) is required, and experience of working with Arabidopsis, studying post-translational protein modifications and/or using mass-spec-based proteomics approaches is desirable. Ideally, the candidate will have demonstrated writing ability through previous publication(s) in high-quality journals, though this is not prerequisite.

Useful links:

Faculty webpages (Gibbs: https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/persons/daniel-gibbs; Sanchez-Moran: https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/en/persons/eugenio-sanchez-moran).

School of Biosciences (https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/biosciences/index.aspx)

Information on Birmingham (https://visitbirmingham.com/)

Informal enquires can be made to Daniel Gibbs, email: d.gibbs@bham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the above ‘Apply’ button.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.

Advert information