Research Associate (Plant Science)

Job description:

Prof Julie Gray and Dr Stuart Casson in the School of Biosciences are looking to appoint a Research Associate to join a BBSRC funded project to investigate the molecular basis of heat and drought stress tolerance in rice crops. You will work alongside a technician employed on the project and collaborate with researchers at the Universities of Penn State in USA, and Wurzburg in Germany, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines who are involved in the project.

Our objective is to understand abiotic stress tolerance in traditional rice cultivars through studying genetic variations associated with growth in hot or dry environments. Several of our target genes are involved in regulating the production of stomata and hence levels of water loss. To explore whether these genetic variations can confer climate resilience we will compare the physiology and yield of hundreds of cultivars that contain either functional or non-functional copies of the target genes, in carefully controlled environments and in also in tropical field trials. We will verify the function of our target genes by genetically manipulating their expression and by using gene editing to recreate stress resilience in an elite modern rice variety.

Applicants must hold a PhD (or be close to completion/have equivalent postdoctoral level work experience) in plant or crop science, with proven experience of crop abiotic stress analysis, plant physiology, molecular biology, transgenics, stomatal biology and water loss. You will be responsible for designing, developing and performing experiments and data analysis. You will help to supervise a technician and will coordinate your work with collaborators to progress the project. You will also disseminate the findings of this research by writing papers and presenting work at conferences and seminars.

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.

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