Research Assistant

We have an opportunity for a Research Assistant to contribute to projects on seaweed and salmon Aquaculture working with Dr. Sofie Spatharis, Prof. Martin Llewellyn and Dr Simon Babayan. The successful candidate will join a consortium of Aquaculture Industry partners from UK, Norway and Sweden and work towards developing tools that will boost the sustainability of the sector. These projects involve the deployment of state-of-the-art mobile marine aquaria and close integration with colleagues from the aquaculture industry as well as leading UK universities working on marine systems – Plymouth, SAMS, Stirling, Aberdeen and the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh.

Seaweed and salmon marine aquaculture are facing existential challenges that originate from the plankton. Specifically, salmon gill pathology and seaweed biofouling are driving important financial losses to the industry, both mainly caused by species originating from the zooplankton and phytoplankton.  The successful candidate will undertake laboratory analyses such as plankton microscopy, image analysis and eDNA metabarcoding, and will contribute to experimental mesocosm trials involving seaweed and salmon across sites on Scotland’s beautiful west coast. Daily interactions with diverse industry and academic colleagues alongside skills development and training will provide a perfect platform to launch a career in marine biology and aquaculture.

Project partners are world leaders in coastal ecology, marine biodiversity and eDNA metabarcoding. The candidate will join an exciting, friendly and experienced research team to drive forward our understanding of factors affecting seaweed biofouling and fish gill health. The post will involve a mix of field work, wet-lab and dry work with opportunities for secondment across UK, Norway and Sweden.

For enquiries regarding this post please contact Dr. Sofie Spatharis, Sofie.Spatharis@glasgow.ac.uk 

This post is full time and has funding up to 1^st September 2026.

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too.

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