Research Fellow/Assistant - 15679

Location: Brunel University London, Uxbridge Campus

Full time, fixed-term (42 months)

Research Assistant Salary: Grade R1 from £35,490 to £37,488 inclusive of London Weighting with potential to progress to £38,532 per annum inclusive of London Weighting through sustained exceptional contribution.

Research Fellow Salary: Grade R1 from £39,607 to £44,240 inclusive of London Weighting with potential to progress to £46,771 per annum inclusive of London Weighting through sustained exceptional contribution.

The McCarthy Lab has an exciting opportunity for a prospective Researcher who is interested in synthetic biology approaches to engineer biofilms to better tackle environmental challenges.

This position is part of the recently funded UKRI funded Engineering Biology Programme Grant “EBIC: Environmental Biotechnology and Innovation Centre”, a collaboration between 10 universities including Cranfield, Bangor, Brunel, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Essex, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Newcastle, and Southampton, as well as more than two dozen industry and academic partners.

You will be joining a highly interdisciplinary project, where we will blend synthetic biology, environmental engineering, and biotechnology to develop disruptive solutions to major environmental challenges. There will be a particular focus on developing approaches to harness bacterial community behaviours such as a biofilm formation to better tackle environmental pollutants such as waste plastics. Our aim is to leverage cutting-edge advancements in synthetic biology and biofilm engineering to develop innovative strategies for bioremediation, with a key focus on scalable solutions that can be readily adopted by the waste and water sectors.

The successful candidate will be responsible for accurate and efficient data generation, data management, collation and the reporting of results to the project lead. The post-holder will need to demonstrate excellent attention to detail, organisational, team working and communication skills and have a keen interest in drafting research outputs for peer-review publication. The successful applicant will work closely with other researchers within the McCarthy Lab and with other EBIC partners.

This fast-paced project will give the successful candidate the opportunity to develop new skills by working closely with our interdisciplinary team and build their international profile including through research visits to academic collaborators and working with SMEs.

Applicants must have a PhD or MSc in a relevant discipline. Experience and knowledge in the field of biofilm formation and microbial plastic degradation is essential. Experience with advanced cloning systems, CRISPR tools, and the use of synthetic microbial communities for bioengineering technologies is highly desirable. They should be able to work both independently and collaboratively. This position is available for 42 months. Please include one paper or preprint that illustrates research skills that are relevant to this project.

The Division of Biosciences sits within the Department of Life Sciences. We work hard to provide a supportive and positive working environment and the Department of Life Sciences proudly holds an Athena SWAN Bronze Award. We are also a Disability Confident Leader. The diversity of our staff adds greatly to this inclusive ethos.

For further information, please contact Dr. Ronan McCarthy (ronan.mccarthy@brunel.ac.uk)

Closing date for applications: 15^th April 2024

For further details about the post including the Job Description and Person Specification and to apply please visit careers.brunel.ac.uk

If you have any technical issues please contact us at: hrsystems@brunel.ac.uk

Brunel University London has a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Our aim is to promote and achieve a fully inclusive workforce to reflect our community.

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