Research Associate in Engineering Biology

The role

A postdoctoral position is available under the guidance of Dr Lucia Marucci in the School of Biological Sciences (University of Bristol) and the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, in collaboration with Dr Harrison Steel and Prof Wei Wang (University of Oxford) as part of a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional grant called EEBio, which investigates ways to improve the robustness of engineered biology using feedback control.

This is a 3-year position (with possibility of extension) and a start date as soon as possible. It is expected that the PDRA will work closely with other PDRAs across the EEBio programme at the Universities of Bristol and Oxford, as well as Imperial College London.

What will you be doing?

The PDRA will focus on applications of cybergenetics to regulate cell proliferation and gene expression in both mammalian and bacterial cells.

This will include the generation of cell lines which enable to measure gene expression in real time in via time-lapse microscopy, the culturing of both mammalian and bacterial cells in microfluidic devices, the use of algorithms to segment cells and to implement feedback control, and performing feedback control experiments within microfluidics/microscopy platforms. The platform will be expanded to work with organoids.

You should apply if

Applicants should have extensive experience in mammalian and bacterial cell culturing and engineering, and time lapse imaging.

They should have a real passion or emerging interest in how we can engineer biology, and a demonstrated ability to pick up new skills and work well in a diverse, multidisciplinary team. Hands-on experience working with microfluidics would be a plus.

Relevant publications:

[1] https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00235

[2] https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.0c00463

[3] https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.0c00105

Additional information

For more information contact: Dr. Lucia Marucci (lucia.marucci@bristol.ac.uk).

Interviews are anticipated to take place late June/early July 2024.

To find out more about what it's like to work in the Faculty of Engineering, and how the Faculty supports people to achieve their potential, please see our staff blog:

https://engineeringincludesme.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/

Our strategy and mission

Advert information