Senior Research Assistant

FTE: 1fte (working 37 hours per week)

Duration of Contract: Fixed term for 18 months

Salary: UH6 £32,546 pa to £38,249 pa by annual increments  

Annual Leave: 30 days plus standard public holidays and an additional 4 days including the closure of our office between Christmas and New Year

Location: College Lane Campus, Hatfield 

We are looking for a talented and motivated researcher to join our team to investigate regulatory mechanisms controlling pluripotency and differentiation, using human stem cell models.

The lab focuses on the investigation of transcriptional networks that regulate fundamental cellular pathways that maintain cell homeostasis and how dysregulation of these regulatory processes leads to disease. The aim of this particular project is to identify the regulatory networks that control cell renewal and the changes that occur leading to and facilitating correct differentiation during early development. 

You will culture human stem cell lines and establish differentiation protocols to drive formation of the germinal layers in-vitro. You will also use molecular biology tools to manipulate activity and expression of genes and generate genome-wide data. The techniques involved in this work include imaging, transcriptomics, Chromatin immunoprecipitation and cell differentiation. 

Main duties and responsibilities

The post holder will perform experimental work, data generation and analysis in a careful and accurate way. This includes input and participation in the design of experiments and analytic tools to interpret the results and draw appropriate conclusions.

Participation in lab meetings and discussions will be essential to drive the research forwards and organise next steps and experiments. This includes contribution to science dissemination by designing and providing data visualisation and writing for publications and presentations.

Assisting in the general running of the lab and supporting the PI in research and supervising activities is an important part of the responsibilities of the post.

Skills and experience required

Experience with cell culture is essential as well as molecular biology techniques. You should have knowledge of appropriate databases and ability to conduct literature searches Genome-wide data handling and analysis and familiarity with open source resources is desirable.

You will be well organised and have a systematic approach to experimental and informatics work. The ability to work and collaborate within and outside of the team is also very important in this role.

Qualifications required

You will be educated with an undergraduate degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline. You will also hold a master’s degree in biological sciences or significant research experience.

Please view the job description and person specification for a full list of the duties and essential criteria. Please complete the application questions detailing how you meet each of the essential and desirable criteria. For guidance, please see attached ‘Tips for Application Questions Section’.

We regret that we are unable to offer UKVI sponsorship for this post; applicants will either hold UK Right to Work or demonstrate access to UK Right to Work before an offer is made.

Contact Details/Informal Enquiries: Dr. Alena Pance, Senior Lecturer. For informal enquiries, please contact: a.pance@herts.ac.uk

Closing Date:25 May 2025

Interview Date: To be confirmed

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