Research Assistant/Associate in Medicinal Chemistry

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary
Research Assistant: £33,002 - £34,610 per annum.
Research Associate: £35,608 - £46,049 per annum.

The Role
This role offers an exciting opportunity for a synthetic organic chemist to apply their skills to medicinal chemistry through the design and synthesis of compounds for biological testing as part of anti-cancer drug discovery projects. The role will also provide the opportunity to learn and develop medicinal chemistry skills as applied to drug design. The role is ideal for someone who has, or is about to be awarded, a PhD in organic or medicinal chemistry and would like to gain experience of drug discovery. It would provide excellent experience for a future career in academic or industrial medicinal chemistry research.

Based in the Medicinal Chemistry Section of the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery Unit, working with Prof. Mike Waring and Dr. Hannah Stewart, you will join a vibrant multidisciplinary group of chemists, bioscientists and structural biologists working at the forefront of anti-cancer drug discovery with an excellent track record of successfully bringing new cancer medicines to market.

The focus of the project is the optimisation of compounds that inhibit a critical protein target that will lead to drugs for currently untreated cancer types. It employs cutting-edge structure-based drug design and property-based optimisation approaches to optimise compounds to drug candidates.

The Newcastle Drug Discovery Unit is a founder member of Cancer Research Horizons – Therapeutic Innovation (CRH-TI), CRUK’s exciting new vehicle dedicated to translating basic research into patient benefit. To learn more about CRH-TI, click here, and to learn more about our approach to small molecule drug discovery in Newcastle, click here.

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles. These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

The role is a full-time, fixed term (12 months) position in the first instance. Candidates who are about to be awarded their PhD are encouraged to apply. The start date will ideally be October 2025, but some flexibility is possible.

Informal enquiries can be made to Prof. Mike Waring mike.waring@ncl.ac.uk or Dr. Hannah Stewart hannah.stewart@ncl.ac.uk.

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