Research Assistant

Fixed Term, 28 hours per week

1^st September 2024 – 31^st August 2025

1 post

We are looking for a 12-months postgraduate research assistant (at 0.8 FTE) to provide research assistance and technical support as part of a Fellowship project titled “Environmental priming of immune regulation: implications for host health”. Most of the knowledge of how the immune system works stem from controlled laboratory studies in semi-sterile conditions. Our overall aim is to better understand how immune regulation, particularly at barrier sites such as the gut and the skin, is shaped by variable ecological factors, from the microbiome to seasonal weather changes. We address this fundamental question by doing longitudinal mark-recapture studies including terminal sampling in a wild population of house mice on the Isle of May, Scotland, between August-December each year. The position will involve small mammal trapping on the Isle of May, analysis of samples from various organs for immunological metrics, data analysis and synthesis, contribution towards paper manuscripts, supporting the supervision of students, and day-to-day running of the laboratory. Experience in all these aspects is not required, but willingness to learn is. 

This 12-months post at 0.8 FTE will be undertaken in the lab of Iris Mair (https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-iris-mair) in the Institute of Evolution and Ecology at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh. The research assistant will be based at the Kings Buildings, University of Edinburgh, but the wider project is interdisciplinary, being also supported by Prof. Amy Pedersen (University of Edinburgh, https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/amy-b-pedersen) and Prof. Kathryn Else (University of Manchester, https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/kathryn.else).

This post is advertised as part-time (28 hours per week), with a start date of 01 September 2024. Post is available for 12 months.

The Opportunity:

The successful candidate will work as part of a large, interdisciplinary research team, specifically focused on using a wild house mouse system – the same species as laboratory mice - to better understand what shapes immune regulation at barrier sites in an uncontrolled, natural setting. The postgraduate research assistant will be leading the immunological data analysis and synthesis including optimisation of novel techniques, as well as conducting fieldwork as part of a team and managing the day-to-day lab tasks.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Bachelor degree in Biology, Immunology or Zoology, or a closely related field
• Experience in several immunological techniques e.g. ELISA, flow cytometry, primary cell culture, and immunofluorescence
• Experience in performing fieldwork involving small mammal live-trapping
• Basic data analysis using Excel, GraphPad Prism and R
• Ability to work collaboratively as a part of an active research team

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