Research Assistant

We are currently seeking a Research Assistant tonduct research contributing to the Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) project ‘REVOLUTION: Unravelling the regulation and evolutionary innovations in grass species to engineer high water use efficiency in rice,’ led by Dr Pallavi Singh.

You will contribute to the FLF project. Rice serves as a global staple crop for more than 3.5 billion people, grown in over 100 countries, and provides nearly half of the global caloric intake. It is vital for food security, particularly in South Asia, where it supplies a significant portion of both caloric and protein needs. Furthermore, the demand for rice in Africa is growing at more than 6% annually (Source: AfricaRice). Currently, the global rice market is expected to face its largest shortfall in two decades, driven by a changing climate and dwindling freshwater reserves. Rice is a water-intensive crop, and water is central to the global climate crisis. Therefore, developing rice varieties with improved water use efficiency is crucial for ensuring agricultural sustainability and global food security.

The FLF aims to provide new insights into the holistic understanding of water use in rice, generating rice varieties with enhanced water use traits. These will be incorporated into novel rice breeding programs to ensure maximum impact and pave the way toward a sustainable future in the face of climate change. By integrating novel germplasms with publicly available breeding and pre-breeding resources, this FLF project ensures the swift adoption of promising results, reducing the time needed to achieve significant impacts. Moreover, collaboration with project partners in the UK, India, France, Germany, and the Philippines will facilitate work with farmer communities on the socioeconomic consequences of unstable rice production in Southeast Asia.

The working hours for this post are 36 hours per week. However, we will consider part-time applications at a minimum of 0.5 FTE (18 hours per week). Please specify if you are applying for this role on a full- or part-time basis on your application form.

Duties of the Role

To deliver the research objectives defined by the UKRI-FLF grant project, REVOLUTION: Unravelling the Regulation and Evolutionary Innovations in Grass Species to Engineer High Water Use Efficiency in the Global Crop, Rice. This involves using physiological, biochemical, and omics approaches to exploit new information from a diverse subset of Asian and African rice cultivars, in order to identify the best targets for manipulation to enhance water use efficiency.

Qualifications and Skills Required

The successful candidate will possess a degree in Biological/Life Sciences or another discipline relevant the role. You will have the ability to learn new methods and produce accurate reports of their implementation, along with planning and carry out experiments, troubleshoot problems and deliver on objectives of the project. 

Please use the 'Apply' button to read further information about this role including the full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role. You will also find details of how to make your application here.

Our website http://www.essex.ac.uk contains more information about the University of Essex. If you have a disability and would like information in a different format, please email resourcing@essex.ac.uk.

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