Postdoctoral Research Scientist

About the role

We have an exciting opportunity to join the pre-clinical team of Prof Simon Draper’s Vaccine Development and Antibody Immunology group in the Department of Paediatrics as a Post-doctoral Research Scientist.

You will play an important role in the development of novel vaccines against Plasmodium knowlesi and Plasmodium vivax, two neglected human malaria parasites.

You will be responsible for the experimental work on this project which is a new collaboration between Prof Simon Draper and Dr Ellen Knuepfer (Royal Veterinary College) recently funded by the Medical Research Council. You will be responsible for designing, planning and running experiments under the supervision of a senior Post-doc, for analysing and interpreting data, and contributing actively to publications. Detailed responsibilities are described in the job description for this role.

You will be working in a growing department within the Medical Sciences Division. The Department of Paediatrics is a world leader in child health research and hosts internationally renowned research programmes in drug development, gastroenterology, haematology, HIV, immunology, neuroimaging, neuromuscular diseases and vaccinology. Professor Draper’s group has an excellent track record in the area of malaria vaccine development and publishes regularly in high impact journals (https://draperlab.web.ox.ac.uk/publications). The group has expanded recently as a result of a number of successful funding applications and continues to be at the cutting edge of vaccine R&D.

This position is offered full-time on a fixed-term contract initially for 2 years or until 28 February 2028 (whichever is earliest) with the possibility to extend provided further external funding is available.

 About you

You will hold (or be near completion of) a PhD/DPhil in a subject relevant to Biochemistry, infectious disease, antibody development, or vaccinology. Additional relevant post-qualification experience in working with infectious diseases, specifically malaria, would be beneficial but is not essential as training would be provided as required. Proven and demonstrable technical skills, including experience of protein expression and purification techniques, expertise in mass spectroscopy, expertise in the use of bioinformatics tools (such as Geneious, R, Pipebio, or development of new computational pipelines for data analysis) and experience of aseptic technique particularly mammalian cell culture are essential. You will also possess highly effective verbal and written communication skills with all levels of staff and an ability to operate effectively in a demanding and increasingly competitive research environment.

Application Process

You will be required to upload a 2 page CV and a maximum 2 page supporting statement (as PDFs) addressing how you meet the selection criteria as part of your online application. The Supporting Statement should include a cover letter and should also clearly describe how you meet each of the selection criteria listed in the job description. Do not upload any certificates or evidence of qualifications, this will be requested if you are shortlisted for the role. Click here for information and advice on writing an effective Supporting Statement. 

Only online applications received before 12.00 midday on 22 August 2025 will be considered. Interviews will be held as soon as possible thereafter.

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