Postdoctoral Fellow – Chromosome Segregation Laboratory

The lab investigate molecular mechanisms that underpin faithful chromosome segregation during cell division. We use yeast and other eukaryotic model systems to study the contribution of structural chromosomal proteins to sister chromatid cohesion and chromosome condensation, essential processes that ensure faithful segregation of centimetre-long chromosomal DNA molecules within micrometre-sized cells. We also investigate how kinases and phosphatases of the cell cycle control network orchestrate the ordered progression through the successive stages of genome duplication and chromosome segregation.

Further information about us and our research can be found at https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs/frank-uhlmann.

Research techniques used in the laboratory include but are not limited to molecular biology, genomics, biochemistry, structural biology, and biophysics.

Key Responsibilities

The purpose of this role is to advance our molecular understanding how members of the Structural Maintenance of Chromosome (SMC) family of protein complexes, cohesin and condensin, work as small molecular machines that give chromosomes their shape. In this project, some of the specific aims include but are not limited to coming to a comparative quantitative understanding of how cohesin and condensin perform their respective functions. We are interested in exploring these SMC complexes at all levels. From studying their single molecular behaviour and their biochemical properties we aspire to gain insight into how cohesin and condensin perform their in vivo roles in chromosome architecture and function. We have recently begun to broaden the range of experimental systems that we use to investigate SMC complex function.

Postdoctoral Fellows will lead their own projects, contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis, both within the laboratory, as well as with internal and external collaborators, and they may guide undergraduate or PhD students in their research. The ability to work in a team is essential.

About us

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under in one building in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; public engagement; and helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy.

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please click the 'Apply' button.
• The closing date for applications is 31/01/2025
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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