Postdoctoral Research Associate

Environment, Science and Economy

This full-time UKRI funded post is available from 1 May 2026 until 31^st December 2027 in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy.

The post

The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate to further the work of the Westra and van Houte research teams on the development of synthetic phage therapy. The successful applicant will be responsible for high-throughput engineering of phage genomesand high-throughput phenotyping assays. The successful applicant with work closely with Postdoctoral Research Fellows and they will be part of a larger network of PIs and postdocs and technicians based at the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool.

The post will include developing and optimizing molecular biology protocols for high-throughput phage genome engineering, maintaining a digital record of all experimental procedures, keeping a record of bacterial and phage clones and making sure they are stored appropriately, preparing materials needed for carrying out experiments, designing and running experiments, organising, analysing and interpreting data and sharing data with the wider team, writing manuscripts about key findings. They will also help to organise a stakeholder workshop focusing on regulation and policy for synthetic phage therapy targeting health stakeholders including doctors, patients, pharmacists, medical regulators and policy makers, such as MHRA, UKHSA.

About you

The successful applicant will be able to design and execute experiments, manage, analyse and interpret data and present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate complex information, orally, in writing and electronically and prepare proposals and applications to external bodies.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. Applicants will be able to independently develop and execute cloning and genome engineering strategies and will have excellent organisational skills and communication skills.

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

We offer a range of staff benefits, you can view these here.

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

For further information please contact Edze Westra, e-mail E.R.Westra@exeter.ac.uk.

The closing date for completed applications is 16 February 2026. Interviews are expected to take place on 19 February.

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