4 jobs found

Clinical Research Fellow (Maternity Cover) We aim to recruit clinical research fellow with an interest in academic respiratory/infectious diseases who wishes to expand their research portfolio. You will have an integral role in delivery of a novel human viral challenge model in bronchiectasis, alongside development of laboratory skills in immunology and the applicant will work as part of a core challenge team comprising a research nurse, research technician, postdoctoral researcher and the study PIs. Main duties of the job The post holder will lead first-in-human studies of a novel model of human rhinovirus in subjects with bronchiectasis. This project builds upon recent observations that viruses may be an underappreciated trigger of exacerbations in bronchiectasis. The study complements an ongoing portfolio of work at Imperial College where a range of viruses (including rhinovirus, influenza and SARSCoV2) are being studied in this context. The project will develop understanding of how the immunological and clinical response to virus is dysregulated in bronchiectasis relative to health and foster acquisition of research skills including research bronchoscopy, mechanistic laboratory experiments, immune/microbiome profiling of airway samples and bioinformatic analysis. Adequate support and training will be provided by Postdocs and Technicians also assigned to the project. The project would be ideally suited to an IMT3 or ST3-7 trainee. This study will be based at Imperial college London and will require close collaboration with UK and international partners as part of an established consortium. We are aiming to recruit an enthusiastic, dynamic, and motivated physician with an interest in academic medicine who wishes to develop and expand their research portfolio. The post will be funded for 9-12 months (maternity cover). It will primarily be based at the South Kensington campus, with additional work at the St Mary's and Royal Brompton hospitals. About us Welcome to Imperial, a global top ten university where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact. Join us and be part of something bigger. From global health to climate change, AI to business leadership, we navigate some of the world's toughest challenges. Whatever your role, your contribution will have a lasting impact. As a member of our vibrant community of 22,000 students and 8,000 staff, you'll collaborate with passionate minds across nine London campuses and a global network. This is your chance to help shape the future. We hope you'll join us at Imperial. Job responsibilities The programme started recruiting patients in 2024, and we anticipate the successful applicant will take up this position in early April 2025. Key duties will include: Assisting with the day-to-day management and delivery of a human challenge model of rhinovirus challenge. Assisting with recruitment and screening of volunteers into this study. Providing direct clinical liaison with the research nurses co-responsible for recruiting and caring for the enrolled patients. Providing direct clinical care to study participants, in liaison with the research nurses, the study PI and clinical steering group. Acting as a point of contact for study participants to provide clinical advice and care before, during and after challenge, under the supervision of the study PI and clinical steering group. Preparing safety reports and briefings for the safety monitoring committee. Working with the wider study consortium, in particular the clinical research nurse, to ensure all the clinical research conducted is compliant with Good Clinical Practice. Developing their own research skills and interests in the field of immunology and infection, aligned with the scientific direction of the study group. Training of study-associated personnel. Ensuring adherence to the study protocol and compliance with regulatory requirements. Problem solving, maintaining and developing good relationships with researchers and clinicians associated with the study in a variety of different settings. Providing medical advice on the management of infection to research nurses and participants. Identifying and developing further research ideas which could be nested within the studies All staff are expected to contribute to the administrative work of the study coordinated through study PIs. The post holder will need to carry out any other reasonable duties as required by the study PIs, which are likely to increase their breadth of research experience. Qualifications Clinically qualified (MBBS or equivalent). Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, or equivalent. Certification in Advanced Life Support (ALS) or equivalent. Specialist trainee (in respiratory medicine, infectious diseases or Intensive Care Medicine). Advanced Internal medicine trainees (e.g., IMT3) with MRCP (or equivalent) applicants may also be considered. Experience Significant clinical experience in general internal medicine and the management of infections. Significant clinical experience in chronic lung disease. Working knowledge of UK clinical trials regulations, principles of GCP, UK GDPR and Research Governance. Framework legislation and proven ability to apply these to the coordination of clinical trials. Experience in bronchoscopy and bronchoscopic sampling of the lower airways. Experience of coordinating, organising, and conducting clinical research. Experience of human challenge studies. Experience of basic immunological assays. Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Imperial College London, Exhibition Road,

By Dr Joanna Royle, Researcher Development Manager One of the University of Glasgow's longest running, high-profile Research Staff development programmes, the Glasgow Crucible follows a model found across UK Universities. 'Crucibles' are intensive opportunities that bring cohorts of mid-career research leaders together to forge interdisciplinary connections, think creatively about bold ideas for funding and publications, and develop career-relevant knowledge exchange expertise. Perhaps most importantly, they are a chance to carve out time to disconnect from daily work and explore the bigger picture of how their own actions as leaders matter in creating the conditions for a thriving research culture. Melting point: the Glasgow Crucible so far The Glasgow Crucible is part of the 'Talent Lab' suite of leadership development initiatives (read much more on Talent Lab here) which includes mentoring, networks, and career and research leadership programmes. Led by the Research Culture and Researcher Development team in Research Services, Talent Lab initiatives are a mechanism for delivering our UofG people-focused Research Strategy. The Glasgow Crucible attracts experienced Postdoctoral Researchers, Research Fellows and new Lecturers, from all disciplines, via an application process that scores potential participants equally on their potential for research leadership, and on their intention to create a collegial learning environment for their cohort. Over the last decade the four core learning days of the Glasgow Crucible have been iteratively refined, including delivery through off-site residentials, visits to to the Science Centre, team building activities, expert workshops, and even ceilidhs! The programme design is grounded in our knowledge that the talents of researchers are best fostered by carving out spaces for development-in-practice, not through a deficit model of information deposits. Following a break caused by the Covid pandemic, the programme returned in 2021-22 and the energy in the room was regenerative as people found powerful value in having informal unfettered head space to explore common ground, and engage with the forward planning that led to refreshed professional identities and grant submissions. Designing the Glasgow Crucible 2022-23 This year we lent heavily into the Crucible metaphor to describe our intentions to facilitate an active and energetic blend of people and disciplines. The heart of the programme was a two-day 'igniting the crucible' residential at Lodge on the Loch, on Loch Lomond. Led by Dr Robin Henderson, these initial days explored the gap between current and ideal research cultures, and equipped researchers with creativity tools to enable them to play their own part in bringing about change. This was followed by four half-day online expert-led workshops: Forging Engagement, Forging Collaboration, Forging Communication, and Forging Applications. The programme was framed by two personal coaching sessions ('the pilot light' and 'polishing the steel') and closed with an in-person celebration offering a chance to reflect and talk through key issues with senior university leaders. Annealing and alloying: the value of Crucible 2022-23 If, like me, you're not an expert in metalworking, these metaphors for development refer to the heat treatment (annealing) that increases ductility making metal easier to work, and to materials mixing (alloying) to increase strength. If that sounds a little stretched, bear with, because it was borne out in what researchers told us about the long-term value of the Glasgow Crucible programme. When we went back to participants 6-months later they told us that they particularly appreciated the 'heat' of the two concentrated days leadership retreat, and the alloying of interdisciplinary cohort peer networks. They also valued feeling more plugged into how the university works overall and the chance to meet senior leaders, with one researcher noting I felt quite dissociated from the University since bringing my fellowship here 2 years ago -COVID restrictions perhaps, but now have a better sense of what the University can offer me if I choose to stay here to establish my independent research career. Researchers also prized the strong values, and sense of integrity underpinning the programme content, saying I reflected more on what kind of researcher I want to be and what my values are. In particular they resonated with the research culture threads: "There needs to be a 'new guard' of academics bringing in a shift definitely made me think of myself as an ambassador and driver of positive research culture" and "I realized that a positive research culture requires every little effort from all of us a healthy communication environment in a small research group would facilitate the growth of the bigger positive research culture". Looking to the future, there was interest in building the programme further to offer more support for practical project and people management. We are really proud of the Glasgow Crucible, but we are also always looking to how we can improve the programme to maximise value for our talented researchers. Key enhancements we hope to pilot next year are, at least: A fully in-person model: The accessibility benefits of online sessions were outweighed by the challenges of zoom fatigue as participants struggled to engage with content and with each other in the digital environment. To improve momentum and cohort building the main programme body will be two pairs of days: one off-site and one on-campus. This means we will need to work harder to ensure accessibility options for everyone, and we are committed to doing just that. Career stage cohorts: Researchers always note the value of sharing longitudinal development spaces with their peers. To improve this cohort-identity, the Glasgow Crucible will focus on researchers who are already leading projects and a new 'Ignite' programme will be piloting for aspiring research leaders at an earlier stage in their career. We will be aligning recruitment timing for all Talent Lab leadership programmes to create a clear pathway for how researchers can progress through development through their UofG career. Coaching to mentoring: The individual coaching sessions piloted in 2022-23 didn't significantly improve researchers' perceptions of their growth and development on the Glasgow Crucible programme. For 2023-24 we are instead looking to cross-link into the Talent Lab suite to line up the Glasgow Crucible with the Catalyst Mentoring programme. Applications will open at the end of 2023, and we are looking forward to firing up the kiln in the Spring!

Generative Biology Institute GBI is tackling the key challenges in making biology engineerable, and thereby unlocking the unrivalled power of biology for the benefit of humanity. GBI is part of the Ellison Institute of Technology, Oxford (EIT) and is led by founding Director Jason Chin. The vision of the Generative Biology Institute is to lay the foundations for engineering biology, and unlock its potential for good. To achieve this, we must overcome two key challenges. First, we need the ability to write in the natural language of biology, enabling the rapid and scalable synthesis of entire genomes with precision. Second, we must understand what to write - determining which DNA sequences will generate biological systems that perform the desired functions. Addressing these challenges will allow us to harness the full power of biology to create transformative solutions across health, agriculture, clean energy and more. GBI will have sustained and substantial funding to support the unique scale and ambition of its ground-breaking vision for engineering biology. GBI researchers will also be supported by cutting edge technology hubs including mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, sequencing, automation, imaging, and bioprocessing. GBI will also have access to substantial compute resources that can be leveraged to further accelerate progress, including scientific compute, bioinformatics, and machine learning. The environment at GBI will allow researchers to undertake ambitious, long term, collaborative research, and we will actively support the translation of research to commercial applications, where appropriate. The Generative Biology Institute will commence operations in a newly renovated bespoke space in the Oxford Science Park. The team will later move to a purpose made facility in the Oxford Science Park, currently under construction. Once complete, this state of the art facility will include more than 40,000 m of research laboratory and office space. It will house over 30 groups and up to 600 employees at scale, focused on solving the two critical challenges in making biology engineerable and applying the solutions to addressing the global challenges encapsulated in EIT's Humane Endeavors. Job Summary We are seeking ambitious, creative, and highly skilled Postdoctoral Researchers to join the Generative Biology Institute (GBI). This is your opportunity to be part of cutting edge research within an institute dedicated to engineering biology at an unprecedented scale. In this role you will support an internationally competitive research programme, leveraging GBI's exceptional facilities, sustained funding, and collaborative environment. You will design and execute experiments, contribute to high impact publications, and play a key role in the training and mentorship of junior researchers and students. Working at the interface of biology, technology, and engineering, you will help shape GBI's vision to reimagine what's possible in biology. Applications to Research Groups Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by the specific research groups you select. On the application page, you will be asked to select up to three (3) research groups you wish to apply to. In your cover letter, please clearly identify the group(s) you are applying to and explain your fit, interest, and relevant experience for each one. Please note that applicants who select more than three groups, or who do not specify their groups of interest, will not be considered. All applications must be submitted exclusively through the EIT job portal. Please do not contact Principal Investigators directly, as direct outreach will not be considered as part of the application process. Due to the volume of applications, the review and decision process may take 3-6 months. Principal Investigators currently recruiting for Postdoctoral Fellows Leopold Parts - The Parts group works to engineer and model mammalian chromosomes. In particular, the group has long term aims to delete, randomize, evolve, and model chromosome scale DNA, all with the aim of informing models of synthetic DNA function; other ideas fitting this broad remit are very welcome. Rongzhen Tian - The Tian group aims to leverage an orthogonal replication system for the accelerated evolution of complex biological functions to i) advance fundamental scientific understanding of molecular and cellular evolution, ii) develop biomolecules to tackle challenges in human health and industry, and iii) generate large scale enzyme datasets for training next generation protein design models. Jérôme Zürcher - The Zürcher group aims to develop methodology to rapidly and scalably write entire genomes of microbes and phages and to leverage these methods to i) genetically isolate organisms, ii) investigate host pathogen interactions, iii) provide a platform for large vector assembly towards Gb scale genome synthesis. Linda van Bijsterveldt - The van Bijsterveldt group aims to develop methods for building and stably transmitting synthetic chromosomes through mitosis and meiosis in mammals and plants. Projects focus on i) creating scalable platforms for constructing entire genomes, ii) transferring chromosomes between different species, and iii) controlling trait inheritance patterns. Kiarash Jamali - The Jamali group focuses on integrating novel, large databases and inductive biases in generative models of biomolecules, seeking to create next generation tools that would enable protein design of new to nature enzymatic reactions, therapeutics, and molecular motors. A particular focus will be on the integration of learned machine learning force fields with generative protein modelling. Fabian Rehm - The Rehm group works to develop and apply new approaches for the continuous evolution of target genes, and the synthesis of large microbial genome stretches. Research will focus on i) evolving complex, multi gene traits within a single experiment, ii) building selective pressures that reward desired behaviours while minimising escape routes, iii) how to borrow principles from natural evolution, such as modularity, gene amplification, or cooperation, to help engineered organisms explore richer evolutionary pathways. Martin Spinck - The Spinck group explores biological evolution in artificial environments to uncover new to nature functions, focusing on evolvable self assembling biomaterials and their applications in sustainable chemistry and biotechnology. Jason Chin - The Chin group's work pioneers: i) the development and application of genome design and synthesis methods and ii) combines these approaches with cellular engineering for the encoded cellular synthesis of new polymers and materials. Key Responsibilities for all Postdoctoral Researchers Design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments, including the development of novel methodologies and adaptation of existing techniques to new applications. Analyse complex datasets using computational and statistical tools, interpreting results in the context of broader research goals. Contribute intellectually to the research direction by identifying opportunities for innovation and refining research questions. Prepare and publish high quality scientific papers, reports, presentations, and protocols. Present research at national and international conferences, seminars, and internal meetings. Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams within GBI, EIT, and external partners to advance complementary workstreams. Build and maintain research infrastructure, laboratory capabilities, and cutting edge technologies. Mentor and support junior researchers, including PhD students and research assistants. Translate research findings into commercial or translational opportunities in alignment with EIT's mission. Identify and pursue opportunities for intellectual property generation and protection. Ensure research activities comply with EIT's policies, legal requirements, and best scientific practice. This list is not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to undertake additional tasks and duties commensurate with the role. Essential and Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience Completed a PhD within the last 4 years in a relevant field (e.g., synthetic biology, computational biology and AI, microbial, plant and human cell biology, genomics, robotics and automation, and nucleic acids chemistry). Track record of delivering ambitious research projects to a high standard. Strong track record in research, ideally in molecular biology, synthetic biology, or related fields. Skilled in data analysis and interpretation; experience with genomic analysis, automation, or computational tools desirable. Proven ability to work independently, think creatively, and solve complex experimental problems. Experience publishing in high impact journals and presenting at international conferences. Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience collaborating in multidisciplinary teams. Capacity to build and sustain productive collaborations internally and externally. Resilience, adaptability, and enthusiasm for working in a fast paced, high growth research environment. We offer the following benefits Enhanced holiday pay Pension Life Assurance Income Protection Private Medical Insurance Hospital Cash Plan Therapy Services Perk Box . click apply for full job details