Research Fellow in Metabolic Modelling

The University of Surrey is a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research.

We are ambitious and have a bold vision of what we want to achieve - shaping ourselves into one of the best universities in the world, which we are achieving through the talents and endeavour of every employee.  

Our culture empowers people to achieve this aim and to collectively, and individually, make a real difference.  

The role

Engineering Streptomyces bacteria for the sustainable manufacture of antibiotics.

Our Mission Award proposal aims to utilise Engineering Biology approaches for the development of transferable strategies to engineer antibiotic-producing Streptomyces bacteria able to use a wide range of sustainable feedstocks for production of drug molecules. To deliver this mission we will integrate ‘wet ’and ‘dry ’laboratory data from an authentic industrial Streptomyces strain lineage. We will determine how the strain improvement process has driven strains to adapt to specific media and fermentation conditions and then use this information to build, design and test appropriate engineering strategies for the development and construction of Streptomyces strains that use greener carbon sources. This will ultimately enable us to learn how to rationally design of strains for greener manufacturing and make this strategy broadly applicable to other industrial Streptomyces.

This is a collaboration between the University of Strathclyde, the University of Surrey and GSK. The study has received a grant of just under £1.1 million from the UKRI Technology Missions Fund, with support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).  

About you

We are looking for a Research Fellow with expertise in metabolic modelling and computational biology and their application for the analysis of metabolism and the design of strategies for improving the properties of microbial strains. The appointed researcher will design and construct metabolic models based on the information collected from multi-omics experiments carried out by the collaborators, and suggest and propose experiments to select the best producing species and test their performance under diverse culture conditions.

The researcher will liaise, train, and exchange skills and methodology with colleagues from related projects, and will be involved in coaching and supervision of undergraduate and post-graduate researchers. There will be opportunities to collaborate with world-class researchers at other leading academic institutions, as well as with our industrial partners.

What we can offer

In addition to your salary, you will receive pension contributions, a generous annual leave entitlement, relocation assistance where appropriate, an attractive research environment, and access to a variety of staff development opportunities. Furthermore, our benefit packages include childcare assistance and discounted membership to University sports facilities.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please submit your CV and a cover letter. You will also be asked some brief questions to help us understand your suitability for the role.

Potential candidates interested in discussing details of the project should contact Professor Claudio Avignone Rossa (c.avignone-rossa@surrey.ac.uk).

Further details:   

Please note, it is University Policy to offer a starting salary equivalent to Level 3.6 (£34,980) to successful applicants who have been awarded, but are yet to receive, their PhD certificate.  Once the original PhD certificate has been submitted to the local HR Department, the salary will be increased to Level 4.1 (£36,024).

Advert information