Research & Innovation Assistant

Location: Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7DQ

We are seeking to appoint a Research and Innovation Assistant to join our Centre for Immuno-Oncology, part of Nuffield Department of Medicine.

Reporting to Dr Lennard Lee the post holder is a member of a research group with responsibility for the provision of research support for the UK Cancer Vaccine AI Scientist and Supercomputing Project. The post holder provides advice and guidance to research students where appropriate.

The UK Cancer Vaccine AI Scientist and Supercomputing Project is a government-supported national flagship research initiative that brings together artificial intelligence, autonomous laboratory technologies and sovereign AI supercomputing to develop safer, more precise and more effective personalised cancer vaccines. Hosted by the University of Oxford, the programme seeks to accelerate scientific discovery by creating an AI Scientist capable of reviewing scientific knowledge, generating hypotheses, designing experiments, controlling laboratory workflows and analysing results within a continuously improving research cycle. By integrating advanced machine learning with robotic laboratory automation, experimental findings are rapidly fed back into AI models, enabling increasingly accurate predictions and accelerating the pace at which new scientific discoveries can be translated towards patient benefit.

The programme has been recognised as one of the UK’s leading strategic research initiatives, having been referenced within both the Government’s AI for Science Strategy and the 10-Year National Cancer Plan. It is supported by major UK research funders and government organisations, including ARIA, the Medical Research Council, UK Research and Innovation, Cancer Research UK and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, alongside a consortium of more than 2,500 scientists, clinicians, engineers, patient representatives and technology experts. The successful candidate will join a highly collaborative multidisciplinary team working at the interface of artificial intelligence, computational biology, cancer immunology, robotics, software engineering and clinical research, contributing to research that aims to establish new approaches for the discovery and development of personalised cancer vaccines.

You will be responsible for managing your own research and administrative activities, within guidelines provided by senior colleagues, and contribute to wider project planning, including ideas for new research projects. You will determine the most appropriate methodologies to test hypotheses, and identify suitable alternatives if technical problems arise. Contribution to scientific reports and journal articles and the presentation of data/papers at conferences is also a key aspect of this role.

It is essential that you hold a degree in a related subject (e.g. Biology, immunology, vaccinology, maths, machine learning), with experience in the operations of research projects, sufficient specialist operational knowledge in the discipline of work and an ability to manage research and relevant administrative activities.

Applications for this vacancy should be made online and you will need to upload a supporting statement and CV. Your supporting statement must explain how you meet each of the selection criteria for the post using examples of your skills and experience. Please restrict your documentation to your CV and supporting statement only. Any other documents will be requested at a later date.  

This position is offered full time on a fixed term contract for 12 months and is funded by MRC.

Only applications received before 12 midday on Thursday, 23 July 2026 will be considered. Please quote 187386 on all correspondence.

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