Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Raman-based Mineral Characterization and Screening

Fixed term for 2.5 years

The Department of Earth Sciences seeks a Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) to work as part of the ERC project BIOFACTS funded by the UKRI/ERC guarantee fund 

The post holder will develop and implement a novel Raman mineral screening platform for the high-throughput characterization of mineral precipitates formed in the laboratory from organomineralization and microbial biomineralization processes. The post holder will join a research group working with Prof. Cosmidis on diverse geomicrobiology processes, and will be part of an ERC-funded team focusing on deciphering the molecular mechanisms of microbial biomineralization using screening approaches.

They will also have the opportunity to interact and develop collaborations with a wider range of academics working on geobiology, mineralogy, and geochemistry in the Department.

They will provide guidance to less experienced members of the research group including DPhil and Master students, while also having responsibilities to manage laboratory tasks. The research will be carried out in the Geomicrobiology lab and new Raman lab in the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford.

The post holder will be responsible for managing their own academic research and administrative activities, involving small scale project management to co-ordinate multiple aspects of work to meet deadlines.

They will adapt existing and develop new scientific techniques and experimental protocols for high-throughput Raman data acquisition and processing and will test hypotheses and analyse scientific data from a variety of sources, reviewing and refining working hypotheses as appropriate.

They will contribute ideas for new research projects and collaborate in the preparation of scientific reports and journal articles and occasionally present papers and posters.

About you

You will hold, or be close to completion of,  a relevant PhD/DPhil together and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to work within established research programmes. You will have experience with Raman spectromicroscopy or another spectromicroscopy technique, as well as with coding. 

You will be able to manage you own academic research and have previous experience of contributing to publications/presentations and contributing ideas for new research projects and research income generation.

You must also have excellent communication skills including the ability to write for publication, present research proposals and results, and represent the research group at meetings.

Previous experience working in a (geo)chemistry or microbiology laboratory would be desirable, along with experience of independently managing a discrete area of a research project and experience of actively collaborating in the development of research articles for publication.

For further details of the role please see the job description.

This post is fixed term for 2.5 years and is available from January 2024

The deadline for applications is midday on Monday 13th November.

Interviews will be held in December.

You will be required to upload a CV and a Supporting Statement as part of your application. Please do not attach any manuscripts, papers, transcripts, mark sheets or certificates as these will not be considered as part of your application.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and ethnic minority candidates, who are under-represented in research posts in the Department. 

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