Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow

This new full-time post is immediately available until 30 June 2026 on a fixed term basis.

The post

The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Researcher Associate or Fellow to study the biology of pluripotency in the team of Prof Austin Smith. These European Research Council funded posts are available from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 in the first instance. Based in the interdisciplinary Living Systems Institute, the successful applicants will join a world-leading programme of investigations into the plasticity of pluripotent stem cells and their underlying gene regulatory network. Applicants should be motivated by fundamental scientific curiosity with a particular interest in stem cells and cell fate decisions.

Stem cells matching the emergent state of naïve pluripotency in the early embryo have so far been established only from rodents and primates. Our goal is to capture naïve pluripotent stem cells from a broad range mammals and to uncover the core gene regulatory network.

In this project signalling environments designed from recent insights will be applied to maintain naïve stem cells generated by network resetting, somatic cell reprogramming, and/or direct derivation from livestock embryos. Multimodal profiling, in vitro differentiation and in vivo chimaera formation will be employed to evaluate and validate naïve pluripotency. Transcriptomics and network inference will be supported by computational/bioinformatics members of the team. Chimaera studies will be in partnership with our collaborator Ramiro Alberio at the University of Nottingham.

About you

Postdoctoral Research Associate:

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD (or nearing completion) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in developmental and stem cell biology and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. Applicants will be able to design and undertake stem cell culture experiments including molecular and chemical reprogramming, genetic perturbation, signalling pathway manipulation, and gene expression analyses.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow:

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in developmental and stem cell biology and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required. Applicants will be able to undertake stem cell culture experimentation including molecular and chemical reprogramming, genetic perturbation, signalling pathway manipulation, and gene expression analysis.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role by clicking on the attachment.

The University of Exeter

We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking 2024). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by Gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces.

Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented within our working community. 

Further information

Before submitting an application you may wish to discuss the post further by contacting Professor Austin Smith, email austin.smith@exeter.ac.uk.

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