Research Lab Tech - Internal Candidates Only
We are recruiting for an internal laboratory technician to support the research work in Professor Uta Paszkowski 's laboratory, starting as soon as possible. This is an exciting opportunity for somebody passionate about scientific research to join a vibrant and friendly team of researchers and technicians in the Crop Science Centre at the University of Cambridge and work in a state-of-the-art laboratory.
The Crop Science Centre opened in October 2020 and benefits from the diverse skills and expertise of the University of Cambridge and NIAB, providing an environment for research excellence in crops, with the drive and expertise for scientific translation to address real-world problems. About 60 staff and students are located at the Centre, distributed in between three established research groups and four fellows starting new research programs.
The role holder will report to Prof Paszkowski and will have experience in management, organisation and maintenance of large volumes of materials and/or databases with hands-on expertise in standard molecular biological techniques (PCR, cloning, DNA/RNA extraction). The post demands an ability for systematic, organised working, and sufficient experience to appropriately prioritise tasks. The successful candidate will contribute to overall technical support for the smooth running of research activities across the Paszkowski group.
The new hire will have the ability to work independently once trained, but will also need good communication and interpersonal skills, and be a strong team player, well integrating with the wider team of laboratory technicians.
This is a fixed term full-time position until 30th September 2027.
Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Prof Uta Paszkowski (up220@cam.ac.uk).
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
If you have not received any response 1 month after the closing date you should consider your application to be unsuccessful.
Please quote reference PD46433 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to develop manuscripts for publication from PhD research. The successful candidate with carry out experimental and theoretical analyses to study the diversity of photosystem II subunit S across the green lineage.
The position will focus on the study of transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing diverse PsbSs, as well as marchantia and maize lines with adjusted expression levels of PsbS.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46424 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant (Fixed Term)
We are seeking a highly motivated Research Assistant to join an exciting interdisciplinary project at the intersection of ecology and computer science. This collaborative project, involving researchers from the Department of Plant Sciences and Computer Science at the University of Cambridge, focuses on using Geospatial Foundation Modelling to generate a globally consistent high-resolution habitat map.
About the Role Global efforts to address nature-related risks and achieve ambitious conservation targets are being hampered by a fundamental data gap: there is still no accurate fine-grained, globally consistent map of the world's remaining natural and human-modified habitats, classified by a robust ecological typology. There is also no reliable system for tracking habitat change. These shortfalls affect a wide range of stakeholders¿conservationists cannot track species ranges accurately, companies struggle to report on nature-related risks, governments lack credible datasets to guide their 30 x 30 conservation commitments under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and philanthropic foundations and NGOs are unable to prioritize ecosystem investments with confidence or evaluate the effectiveness of their interventions. Existing attempts to map habitats have fallen short, largely due to a lack of high-quality, regionally relevant training data that can be used to train models to recognize and contextualize diverse land cover types at the ecoregion level. Creating an open-source library of ecoregional training data will enable the next generation of AI-powered mapping tools to deliver unprecedented accuracy and consistency in habitat classification and change detection. By acting now, we can finally provide the data foundation needed to mobilize sustainable finance, guide effective conservation, and secure the world's most important natural habitats for future generations.
Recent advances in geospatial foundation models, including Cambridge University's TESSERA model, offer a transformative opportunity to overcome these challenges¿provided they are supported by comprehensive, expertly curated ground truth datasets, which the CCI community is well positioned to provide. Geospatial foundation models are powerful AI systems trained on huge amounts of satellite images that can understand patterns and changes on Earth, such as land use and land cover change mapping. Instead of building a new model for every task, foundation models can be quickly adapted to answer different questions about our planet, saving time and effort. This makes it much easier for scientists and decision-makers to get reliable insights from geospatial data, whether they're monitoring habitats, crops, cities, or natural disasters.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46354 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term)
We are inviting applications for a Research Laboratory Technician to carry out experimental work within Professor Alison Smith's research group. The role-holder is responsible to the Head of the Group and will carry out experimental work in close collaboration with post-doctoral researchers.
Overview of the role
To provide technical support for research activity in order to ensure the smooth running of a laboratory or research facility.
The successful candidate will be involved with generation, maintenance and characterisation of transgenic micro-algae lines. Day to day tasks include growth and maintenance of algae cultures, conducting algae transformations, phenotyping of algae lines, recording data and providing results. The role will require ability to set up experiments under minimal supervision with due care and attention. The successful candidate will be responsible for following and ensuring strict safety procedures and safety checks.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46330 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant (Fixed Term)
A position is open for a short-term research assistant based at the OpenPlant Laboratory in Cambridge in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and directed by Dr Facundo Romani and Prof. Jim Haseloff.
The appointee will develop a research project based on exploring the morphological diversity of across liverworts. Previous work with Marchantia has established foundational aspects of vegetative development (https://haseloff.plantsci.cam.ac.uk).
The work will include state-of-the-art microscopy techniques in a set of leafy liverwort species and comparative analysis with the model liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. These insights should help to reconstruct the evolution of meristem architecture across liverworts and other bryophytes and uncover new aspect of plant development and meristem re-establishment. We are looking for a highly motivated research assistant to work in this area.
The successful candidate will have a background in evolution of development biology, including a degree in a relevant area. Experience with advanced confocal microscopy, clearing techniques, and in vitro culture of liverworts, previous work with Marchantia will be advantageous.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46309 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on the impacts of global change on the forests. The PDRA will contribute to:
Understand the impact of CO2 on Amazonian biodiversity, particularly the difference in performance between lianas and trees.
Understand the dynamics of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Coordinate data collection on UK forest dynamics plots.
In addition, the PDRA is expected to contribute towards the work taking place in the group of Dr Esquivel-Muelbert.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 1 years in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46272 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a Research Laboratory Technician with a background in plant molecular biology and genetics, whose primary role will be to support the research projects and contribute to grant objectives for Dr Evan Ellison at the Crop Science Centre within the Department of Plant Sciences. This is an exciting opportunity for somebody enthusiastic to gain experience working in plant molecular biology and genetics, gene editing, and plant-microbe interactions.
You will work under the management of Dr Evan Ellison to provide laboratory support for research programs under his direction. The post-holder will contribute to the experimental work associated with molecular biology protocols (cloning, RNA and DNA extractions, expression analysis, plant husbandry and plant crosses), histology, and computational phenotyping methods.
The post-holder will also be responsible for the organization of experiments assessing interactions with viral pathogens and beneficial microbes.
We are seeking to appoint an individual with strong organisational and communication skills, who takes pride on their job and are team players.
The successful candidate must have excellent attention to details and should have practical experience in plant molecular biology laboratory activities and research.
The role holder will also need good communication and interpersonal skills.
The Crop Science Centre opened in October 2020 and is part of the Department of Plant Sciences. It benefits from the diverse skills and expertise of the University of Cambridge and NIAB, providing an environment for research excellence in crops, with the drive and expertise for scientific translation to address real-world problems. Over 70 staff and students are located at the Centre, distributed in between three established research groups and three fellows starting new research programs.
The Crop Science Centre offer a positive and inclusive working environment with a generous annual leave entitlement and free parking on site.
We welcome a diversity of applicants and have developed an application process that removes, as much as possible, any bias in selection. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Dr Evan Ellison (eee26@cam.ac.uk).
Please note that this role if for Internal applicants only.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 29 May 2026 in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
If you have not received any response 1 month after the closing date you should consider your application to be unsuccessful.
Please quote reference PD46236 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term)
PDRA studying centromere organisation and function
A 3-year post is available in the Henderson group to study the genetic and epigenetic structure of plant centromeres, and how this relates to their function in cell division and chromosome segregation.
A variety of genetic, genomic, and epigenomics approaches and study systems are available in the group. The candidate will apply techniques including Nanopore sequencing, ChIP-seq, and Hi-C, to probe plant genomes and centromeres. The project will involve both wet-lab based functional genomics approaches, together with dry-lab based bioinformatics analysis. Candidates are also expected to bring their own knowledge and approaches to design and execution of the project.
The candidate will work in a dynamic team of scientists and collaborate with group members to make discoveries. Regular opportunities will be provided for presentation of the candidate's research, together with regular career-mentoring. The Henderson lab shares space with the groups of Prof. Jake Harris, and Prof. David Baulcombe, who research related questions in plant epigenetics.
Where a PhD has yet to be awarded the appointment will initially be at Research Assistant level (Grade 5) and amended to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon the award of your PhD.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46127 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Department of Plant Sciences is seeking to appoint a post-doctoral Research Associate to investigate how DNA features contribute to gene expression and how these can be used for the predictable design of synthetic constructs for engineering plants. The successful candidate will join the Patron Lab and will work in collaboration with researchers in the Queitsch lab (University of Washington, USA) and the Jores lab (University of Dusseldorf, Germany). Together, we will investigate regulatory sequences and engineer programmable and tuneable gene expression in plants. We will provide a supportive research environment with an emphasis on personal development, research excellence, integrity, and respect. More information about the Patron lab is available at www.patronlab.org.
Role overview The candidate will conduct experiments using bioinformatic, molecular biology and synthetic biology approaches to investigate expression-limiting features of DNA shape, torsional stress, and nucleosome occupancy. They will use this knowledge to develop strategies to engineer expression in plants, seeking to optimise yields from metabolic pathways.
Key skills The successful candidate must have a PhD in molecular or synthetic biology and a thorough understanding of eukaryotic genomes and gene expression. Applicants should be proficient in the design and assembly of synthetic constructs, and in the use of mass spectrometry for the identification and quantification of metabolites. Experience with plants is desirable but not essential.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD44591 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant (Part Time, Fixed Term)
We are recruiting for a Research Assistant based at the OpenPlant Laboratory in Cambridge in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and directed by Prof. Jim Haseloff. The appointee will help develop new approaches to chloroplast transformation in the model liverwort plant Marchantia polymorpha. Work with Marchantia allows streamlined approaches to genome modification, cell dynamics and morphogenetic engineering. The planned work includes use of a collection of synthetic gene elements designed for engineering the Marchantia chloroplast genome. These allow hyper- expression of proteins in transgenic plants, and we are developing hydroponic systems for large-scale, soil-free propagation of plants, and low-cost downstream processing of plant extracts for purification of recombinant proteins at scale. We are looking for a highly motivated appointee to work in this area.
The successful candidate will have a background in plant molecular biology or synthetic biology, including work experience or a degree in a relevant area. Experience with plant culture, DNA manipulation, plant molecular biology or microscopy will be advantageous.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD45914 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term)
A postdoctoral research associate position is available in the Luginbuehl group investigating the regulation of nutrient exchange during the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. This position is funded by the Allan and Gill Gray foundation as well as the ERC Starting Grant "Harnessing mechanisms for plant carbon delivery to symbiotic soil fungi for sustainable food production".
The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is one of the oldest and most widespread symbioses on Earth. This symbiosis provides significant nutritional benefits to plants, however, it is also associated with a substantial carbon cost, as up to 20% of photosynthesis products are allocated to mycorrhizal fungi. This project will explore the molecular mechanisms that allow plants to regulate carbon transfer to mycorrhizal fungi, and will test whether carbon allocation and thus the cost-benefit balance of the symbiosis can be manipulated by genetic engineering of host plants. The successful candidate will use single-cell transcriptomics approaches (including single-nucleus RNA and ATAC-sequencing), carbon tracing, and targeted mutagenesis in the model crop rice to address these questions.
We are looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral scientist who is collaborative and excited to work as part of an interdisciplinary and diverse team, has excellent oral and written communication skills, strong organizational and time-management skills, and is eager to develop novel ideas and approaches to investigate research questions in the field of plant-fungal symbioses.
Experience in one or several of the following areas would be an advantage: Characterization of transgenic rice plants (Single-cell) transcriptomics approaches Bioinformatics analyses of large datasets Molecular biology techniques Plant physiology techniques
Start date as soon as possible or upon agreement. The funds for this post are available for 2 years, with a possibility of further extension.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD45877 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant (Part Time, Fixed Term)
We are seeking a motivated and skilled research assistant to join our interdisciplinary team working on the development of a novel mathematical model to estimate water table depth in global peatlands. The successful candidate will contribute to the project through advanced image processing of the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite product and the application of linear mixed-effects models and machine learning algorithms. These methods will be merged to support the derivation of an analytical equation for water table depth estimation.
The ideal candidate will have experience in image processing, statistical modelling, and machine learning. Familiarity with field data collection or related environmental sciences is highly desirable. Additionally, experience with API development and basic web design would be advantageous, as the final product will be delivered as an accessible digital tool for farmers and related researchers.
This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of data science, environmental modelling, and field research, contributing to a high-impact project aimed at supporting peatland management.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 6 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD45801 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term)
An exciting opportunity is available for a Research Laboratory Technician to join the group of Prof. Jake Harris at the Department of Plant Sciences. The laboratory is situated on the Downing Site in Cambridge and houses state-of-the-art facilities.
The project is part of a pioneering new effort to generate fully synthetic plant chromosomes, funded by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA, please see here https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/programmable-plants/synthetic-plants) for more details). The postholder will support and perform various routine and higher-level molecular biology techniques in the lab, including cloning (PCR, gel electrophoresis, DNA purification, restriction reactions, ligation reactions, Gibson assembly, bacterial transformation and culture, plasmid purification, and Sanger sequencing), genotyping (collecting material, genomic DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis), genetic transformations, as well as general plant husbandry and maintenance. The primary model organism is the 'green yeast', Physcomitrium patens, which holds many unique advantages for synthetic biology approaches. There is also scope for development in computational aspects and organisational pipelines. The project is part of an integrated team effort involving academic and biotech laboratories across the UK and Australia.
The successful candidate is not expected to be familiar with all these techniques; however, experience working with Physcomitrium patens or other non-vascular plants is highly beneficial. A willingness to learn and some prior laboratory experience is essential. The postholder will work closely alongside a postdoctoral researcher on the project and within a wider laboratory team setting, so evidence of successful teamwork to achieve well-defined project goals is critically important. The successful candidate will have a degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject, strong organisational and time-management skills, a positive attitude, and good team spirit.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD45704 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
