Research Technician / Senior Research Technician in Oxford Nanopore Technology and Metagenomics

Can you contribute your expertise in soil microbiome sequencing to an exciting research project exploring the impact of Land Use Transitions for Net Zero on soil health indicators? We are seeking a Research Technician or Senior Research Technician with experience of sequencing soil samples for microbiome analysis to undertake sampling and anaytical duties within the UKRI funded LUNZ OpenLAND project. This is a research partnership with the University of East Anglia (UEA, lead organisation) and other partners.

About the role

The role focuses on providing technical support and expertise in the application of Oxford Nanopore Technology to assess agricultural soil microbiomes. You will be helping to devise, test and deliver protocols for in-field DNA extraction and sequencing, collating data and supporting analysis, and assisting in the delivery of knowledge exchange activities. You will be reporting to Dr Jennifer Rowntree in the School of Biological and Marine Sciences.

Key responsibilities are to:

• Provide general and specialist support for molecular laboratory and field based research activities
• Demonstrate techniques and equipment to colleagues and external stakeholders and provide training in their use
• Contribute to the development of new techniques and protocls in the area of research.

Due to the nature of the role, unfortunately we are unable to accommodate working from home.

A current full driving licence (manual transmission) is essential as you will be driving University of Plymouth vehicles.

This role is also subject to health surveillance with our Occupational Health team.

The successful candidate may be required to obtain an ATAS Certificate prior to this research being undertaken.

This is a part-time role working 22.2 hours per week on a fixed-term basis for 9 months due to the nature of the funding.

For an informal discussion to find out more about the role then please contact:

Jennifer Rowntree; by email at jennifer.rowntree@plymouth.ac.uk  

What we’re looking for

You will have:

• A degree or equivalent (a higher degree is desireable) in a relavent subject area
• Professional experience of working in a molecular biology laboratory and adhereing to good lab practice
• Experience of working with sequencing technology.

Prior experience of using Oxford Nanopore Technology is desireable, as is some experience of post sequencing bioinformatics and data processing.

For more information about the job and the person specification, please refer to the job description.

About us

You will be working within the University's Centre of Research excellence in Intelligent and Sustainable Productive Systems under the Soil Health theme and contributing to the development of the Centre's eDNA and metabarcoding Facility.

The School of Biological and Marine Sciences holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education.

For more information on School of Biological and Marine Sciences please visit our dedicated webpage at: 

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/schools

Application Process

Please apply online, demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the knowledge, qualifications, training, skills and experience elements of the job description in your supporting statement.

Our Offer

A summary of our comprehensive benefits can be viewed here.

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