Postdoctoral Researcher
Salary: £35,300 - £37,800 per annum depending on qualifications and experience.
Contract: Five years, full-time
Location: John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK.
Closing date: 11 October 2023
Reference: 1004536
Applications are invited for a five-year Postdoctoral Researcher position in the group of Professor Anne Osbourn OBE FRS NAS at the John Innes Centre to work on elucidating and engineering biosynthetic routes to steroidal bioactives, inspired by the chemical diversity of the Plant Kingdom. The post is part of a larger programme in the Osbourn lab on harnessing plant metabolic diversity for human health, funded by a Wellcome Discovery Award.
About the John Innes Centre:
The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant and microbial sciences. We nurture a creative, curiosity-led approach to answering fundamental questions in bioscience, and translate that knowledge into societal benefits. Our strategic vision, Healthy Plants, Healthy People, Healthy Planet, sets out our ambitious long-term goals for the game changing impact of our science globally.
Our employees enjoy access to state-of-the-art technology and a diverse range of specialist training opportunities, including support for leadership and management.
The role:
The Postdoctoral Researcher appointed to this position will be based in the Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism at the John Innes Centre in the laboratory of Professor Anne Osbourn and will join a multidisciplinary team working on plant natural products - biosynthesis, function, mechanisms of metabolic diversification, and engineering designer molecules for medicinal and agricultural applications. They will elucidate biosynthetic routes to medicinal steroids by genome mining of targeted plant species, and pathway reconstitution/engineering in tobacco by transient expression using methods established in the Osbourn laboratory (see for example Reed et al. 2023, Science 379(6638):1252-1264). They will also investigate the structure-activity relationships of suites of steroidal analogues (anti-cancer activity, toxicity, in vitro binding to target proteins). This post is part of a large eight-year project funded by a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award.
The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary lab of biologists, chemists and computational scientists that operates across the disciplinary boundaries. The candidate will be encouraged to innovate and develop their own research areas within the overall remit of the Wellcome Discovery Award. They will also have the opportunity to interact with spin-out companies on the Norwich Research Park, including a new spin-out from the Osbourn lab, to gain insights into life in the commercial biotech sector.
The ideal candidate:
The John Innes Centre is a world class institute and is looking to appoint an exceptional candidate with a PhD or equivalent in natural product biochemistry, synthetic biology or a related discipline. The successful applicant will have excellent skills in molecular biology, biochemistry and metabolic biology/natural product research, and in pathway discovery by genome mining. Previous experience of working on triterpenoid/steroidal compounds (biosynthesis, modes of action) would be advantageous but is not essential.
Additional information:
Interviews will take place in late October/November 2023.
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website
http://jobs.jic.ac.uk or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or
[email protected] quoting reference 1004536.
We are an equal opportunities employer, actively supporting inclusivity and diversity. As a Disability Confident organisation, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy. We are proud to hold a prestigious Gold Athena SWAN award in recognition of our inclusive culture, commitment and good practices towards advancing of gender equality. We offer an exciting, stimulating, diverse research environment and actively promote a family friendly workplace. The Institute is also a member of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme.
The John Innes Centre is a registered charity (No. 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
