Research Fellow in Protein Nanoparticle Technology

About us

This position is a key part of the Manufacturing Research Hub for a Sustainable Future (VaxHub Sustainable), led by UCL Biochemical Engineering and the University of Oxford with academic and industrial partners. VaxHub Sustainable is funded with a £12M EPSRC grant, part of UKRI. It builds on the success of the DHSC-funded Vax-Hub 1, which played a critical role in making the UK the global centre for vaccine discovery, development and manufacture. Its research underpinned the development of the ChAdOx-1 nCoV-19 vaccine, subsequently licensed to AstraZeneca, with benefit to over 180 countries. VaxHub Sustainable’s vision is to deliver manufacturing innovations that enable a transformative change towards sustainable and rapidly responsive vaccine manufacture.

About the role

The postholder will develop a protein nanoparticle platform for the encapsulation and targeted delivery of vaccines. Building on our previous work , which demonstrated oriented antigen display on protein nanoparticles and molecule loading, we will apply these strategies to enable the generation of a protein-based delivery system for a range of target molecules. We aim to gain a deep understanding of the loading capacity, target molecule stability and fate upon delivery into cells. With this work we strive to improve stability, storage and administration of sustainable vaccine manufacturing and delivery. There will be a high degree of interaction with UCL colleagues and industrial partners so excellent team-working and communication skills will be required. The post holder will be responsible for undertaking original experimental research, reporting on project progress and the preparation and submission of research papers arising from these and related studies.

About you

You hold a PhD in a relevant discipline (e.g. Bio/Chemical Engineering) or a related area or in natural sciences reinforced with an emphasis o n protein engineering and synthetic biology (e.g. Biotechnology, Biochemistry), and ideally possess experience in biochemical/biophysical analysis of protein assemblies and molecular biology techniques (e.g. cloning, in vitro RNA production). We want to give people opportunity for development and this role is one where we could consider a wide range of different skills and experiences . Whilst all candidates must meet the essential criteria in order to be shortlisted, we actively encourage candidates who may not meet all of the desirable criteria to apply as we consider these to be areas the successful candidate can grow within the role. For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Stefanie Frank at stefanie.frank @ucl.ac.uk.

What we offer

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innov ation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion

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