Research Associate in C1-Fixing Microbiome Engineering

Job reference: SAE-029096
Salary: £37,174 to £45,413 per annum, depending on relevant experience
Faculty/Organisational Unit: Science and Engineering
Location: Manchester Institute of Biotechnology
Employment type: Fixed Term
Division/Team: Department of Chemistry
Hours Per Week: Full Time
Closing date (DD/MM/YYYY): 16/07/2025
Contract Duration: from 1 September 2025 for up to 48 months
School/Directorate: School of Natural Sciences

Working within Manchester Institute of Biotechnology under the supervision of Professor Neil Dixon, the post is funded by the BBSRC strategic Longer and Larger grant “Rules of life in CO2-driven microbial communities: Microbiome engineering for a Net Zero future”. This project is led by Professor Sophie Nixon at the University of Manchester, in collaboration with the Earlham Institute. In this project we are interrogating the rules that govern microbiomes that inhabit terrestrial hot springs.

The long-held tradition of studying microorganisms in isolation has, until recently, obscured the fact that microbial life exists as interdependent multi-species assemblages. Despite the profound impact microbial communities have on their environment and the technological advances in microbial genomics in recent years, the rules that govern the structure, function and stability of microbial communities are complex and only partially understood. Although a plethora of mechanisms that influence microbial communities have been identified, from metabolic priming, to inter- and intraspecific metabolic signalling and even direct antibiosis, holistic understanding has yet to be achieved in any microbial system. In this project we will develop a novel experimental system that is complex yet tractable, enabling rich, coordinated multi-omics analysis coupled with computational modelling to deliver deep mechanistic insight. We will apply a cutting-edge toolbox of experimental, analytical, and computational approaches to reveal the rules of life in this system that will serve as a blueprint to apply to any microbiome.

You will be responsible for conducting research under the supervision of Profs Dixon and Nixon to engineer the microbial communities from hot springs that successfully grow on CO2 and H2. You will be responsible for the design and deployment of CRISPR-based microbiome engineering tools, to both isolate individual community members for analysis and to augment the entire microbiome community with modified functions. These isolates and augmented communities will phenotyped and further adapted under batch cultivation experiments and continuous cultivation studies using flow through bioreactors. You will work closely with other postdocs and PhD students in this project, who will be applying complimentary approaches to the same systems and will be expected to join at least one fieldtrip to Iceland with other sLoLa team members. Your experimental and analytical work will be supported by a full-time technical specialist.

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Blended working arrangements may be considered

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Prof. Neil Dixon

Email: neil.dixon@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk

Technical support:

Jobtrain: 0161 850 2004 https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

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