Postdoctoral Research Associate in Plant Biology

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the Jarvis group at the Department of Biology to work on a new BBSRC project entitled “Unravelling chloroplast TOC-TIC assembly, a vital component of plant greening and photosynthetic establishment”.

Chloroplasts in plants are built from thousands of different proteins. Most of these proteins are encoded by genes in the cell nucleus and so are made outside of the organelle in the cellular matrix called the cytosol. Since chloroplasts are surrounded by a double-membrane “envelope”, sophisticated machinery is needed to import these proteins into the organelle. This machinery consists of two translocons called TOC and TIC, each one being composed of several subunits that cooperate to drive protein import. These translocons are vital for chloroplast biogenesis and photosynthetic establishment in plants.

This project aims to elucidate how individual protein subunits are assembled to form functional multiprotein translocons. Having such a detailed understanding of translocon assembly is extremely important, because it is a vital process for photosynthetic establishment in plants. Greater understanding in this area may in the future offer applications in the development of crops with improved photosynthetic performance and yield.

You will independently manage your own research within guidelines provided by the supervisor and will contribute to wider project planning. You will actively foster the intellectual environment of the research group through interactions with colleagues, providing training, advice or supervision as necessary.

The successful applicant will hold, or be close to completion of, a PhD/DPhil degree in a relevant discipline, and the specialist expertise needed to carry out the project work effectively. You will have considerable research experience in protein biochemistry and molecular biology.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Professor Paul Jarvis ( paul.jarvis@biology.ox.ac.uk)

The University of Oxford is committed to equality and valuing diversity. All applicants will be judged on merit, according to the selection criteria.

This BBSRC-funded position is full-time and fixed-term for 36 months.

The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on Tuesday 18 February 2025, interviews are likely to be scheduled for late February 2025. Applications for this vacancy are to be made online via our e-recruitment system, and you will be required to upload a supporting statement and CV as part of your online application.

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