Research Scientist

Applications are invited for a Research Scientist to join the Laboratory of Dr Paul Kroon in the Quadram Institute, Norwich, UK.

Background:

The successful candidate will join the Kroon group at Quadram Institute Bioscience and work within the Food, Microbiome and Health Institute Strategic Programme. The Kroon group have been undertaking research to understand how polyphenols in plant foods interact with the human body with a view to understanding their contributions to the health benefits for over 25 years.

The successful candidate will build on recently completed research showing that specific dietary polyphenols inhibit the microbial production of trimethylamine from L-carnitine.

The role:

You will work on an exciting project to determine how specific polyphenols interfere with gut microbial methylamine metabolism at a molecular level. They will use single strains and human faecal inoculated in vitro colon models to explore whether the effects are due to changes in the abundance and/or transcription of microbial genes involved in methylamine metabolism and/or on the protein machinery.

The ideal candidate:

The candidate will have a PhD in Microbiology / Molecular Biology and will be experienced using in a range of microbiology and molecular biology methods. They will develop skills in using human in vitro colon models (including high-throughput models), LC-MS-based quantitative analytical methods and qPCR, qRT-PCR and enzymology.

Additional information:

Salary on appointment will be within the range £37,500 to £45,350 per annum depending on qualifications and experience. This is a full-time post until 31 March 2028.

For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website https://jobs.quadram.ac.uk or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1006118

This role meets the criteria for a visa application, and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply.  Please contact the Human Resources Team if you have any questions regarding your application or visa options.

We are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The institute values of People-Centred Impact, Inclusive Excellence, Trusted Integrity, Collaborative Spirit and Agile Innovation are at the heart of all we do, and we expect all employees to share and display these values. To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work.

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.

About the Quadram Institute:

The Quadram Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Our vision is Healthy living by design: promoting lifelong health by decoding the interactions between food science, nutrition, microbes, microbiomes and human physiology, and transforming this knowledge into innovative solutions for society.

A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, The Quadram Institute brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute. (https://quadram.ac.uk/).

The closing date for applications will be 25 June 2026.

The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

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