Research Associate (Fixed Term)

The Open Bioeconomy Lab, headed by Dr. Jenny Molloy (openbioeconomy.org), is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate for OpenBioMAPS, a BBSRC Engineering Biology Mission Award developing open source tools for distributed biomanufacturing of enzymes and antibodies at low-cost using benchtop microbial and plant systems.

The overall goals of OpenBioMAPS are to work with UK biomanufacturing startups and SMEs to better understand their needs for next-generation, affordable technologies; seed a community of developers and users of open biomanufacturing tools; create training for academics and industry scientists to develop skills at the interface of biology and engineering; and use this as a springboard to run interdisciplinary mini-projects across the UK engineering biology community.

The role holder will engineer open-source bacterial strains for protein expression that can be freely distributed for commercial use. They will also support community-led development and characterisation of innovative DNA toolkits for protein expression in Escherichia coli and Pichia pastoris. They will collaborate with Prof Jim Haseloff (Department of Plant Sciences) and Dr Matthew Wayland (Department of Zoology) on bioreactor and bioprocessing platforms to enable UK startups and SMEs to rapidly establish protein biomanufacturing workflows with low capital expenditure.

The successful candidate will have a PhD, or be studying towards a PhD, in synthetic biology or a related field, and will have experience of genome editing and strain engineering in bacteria or yeast. Experience with recombinant protein expression in one of Pichia pastoris and E. coli is essential and experience with both organisms is advantageous. The ability to work both as part of a team, and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are essential to this role. More information on the role and person specification is available on the Further Particulars attached. For informal enquiries please contact Dr Jenny Molloy (jcm80@cam.ac.uk).

Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD; those without a PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level. Those who have submitted but not yet received their  will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 13 February 2026 in the first instance.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please click on the apply button above. 

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.

Closing date for applications is 2nd April 2024.

Please quote reference NQ40742 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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