Technician

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Johnston lab within the School of Medicine and Population Health. The role is part of a major new externally funded interdisciplinary programme led by Dr Thomas Paterson, bringing together bioengineering, microbiology, neuroscience and translational neurotechnology.

The programme will explore whether engineered fungal networks can be developed as controllable bioelectronic interface materials. Current neural-interface technologies remain limited by trade-offs between surgical invasiveness, tissue compatibility, spatial coverage and long-term function. Fungal networks offer a distinctive biological platform: soft, three-dimensional structures that can be grown, modified and tested as part of future bioelectronic interface systems.

The appointed Research Technician will contribute to an ambitious research programme developing candidate fungal biointerfaces and evaluating them against clear safety, control and functional criteria as part of a large multidisciplinary team.

You will provide day-to-day technical support for fungal culture, strain handling, candidate preparation and laboratory organisation. The role will support fungal strain banking, recovery, routine culture, media and reagent preparation, stock control, sample tracking, quality-control checks, microscopy preparation and safe handling of live, arrested and non-viable fungal materials. You will help ensure that candidate fungal materials are prepared consistently and handed over to downstream biological and bioelectronic assays in a reliable, well-documented way.

This role would suit someone with strong practical laboratory skills, good organisation, attention to detail and experience in microbiology, fungal or microbial culture, molecular biology support, aseptic technique or regulated biological research environments. The post is intended to provide dedicated technical support for this funded research programme, with a focus on reliable research delivery, accurate records, safe working and day-to-day laboratory continuity.

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