1. Job Details
www.www.vacancies.ed.ac.ukVacancy Reference number: 047869
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow
School/Support Department: College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Unit: MRC Centre for Reproductive Health
Line manager: Research Group PI (Dr Rod Mitchell)
2. Job Purpose
To undertake a drug discovery research project entitled ‘Protecting spermatogonial stem cells from chemotherapy-induced damage for fertility preservation in childhood cancer’.
3. Main Responsibilities
(Normally between 4 and 10. Percentages should total at least 95% (and no more than 100%))
Design, develop and undertake phenotypic drug-screening assays suitable for medium-throughput chemical library screening in a cell and tissue culture system. (Approx % of time = 50)
Assume lead responsibility for designing screening cascades to validate hits from phenotypic screens and to characterize drug mechanism-of-action in tissue/cell-based assays involving chemical and genetic manipulation using in-vitro and in-vivo models. (Approx % of time = 25)
Maintain accurate, detailed and up-to-date records on research progress and make data available to team-members electronically using shared areas. Reporting of data at lab meetings and regular reporting of progress to the individual PI/other members of the research team is expected. (Approx % of time = 10)
Take a lead role in writing up project for publication and presentation of research findings at local, national and international level. Contribute to writing of reports to the funder. (Approx % of time = 5)
To provide guidance and supervision for student projects and/or instruction of students in the use of equipment/demonstration of techniques. (Approx % of time = 5)
Maintain a detailed knowledge and understanding of the research field and key advances across other research areas relevant to the project. Achieved primarily through searches of literature, chemical library databases and data repositories. (Approx % of time = 5)
4. Planning and Organising
The postholder will plan and organise their own work schedule, but with regular discussions with the line manager to ensure the project milestones are met. Assisting students with planning and scheduling the workload of their projects, within the remit of the overall project.
5. Problem Solving
Problem-solving will primarily involve the postholder drawing on accumulated experience and/or using their initiative to source relevant information e.g. searching the scientific literature, consulting senior scientific staff or contacting commercial suppliers. Problem-solving will also lead to improvements and adaptions to protocols leading to efficient production of high-quality results. As part of a team, they will actively contribute to solving experimental problems faced by other members of the group.
6. Decision Making
Taken independently: Decisions on organisation of own workload and experimental planning according to priority and practicalities. Identify and execute short-term goals to meet the overall requirements of the project. Day to day problem solving to ensure smooth running of the project and identify issues for escalation.
In collaboration with others: Decisions regarding experimental design, interpretation of data and potential new approaches. Unresolved issues identified by the postholder or other team members.
Referred to Line Manager: Decisions relating to project milestones and changes of research direction, response to serious events, interpretation of complex data and unexpected findings.
7. Key Contacts/Relationships
Dr Rod Mitchell and members of his research team. Professor Neil Carragher and members of his research team. The job holder must have good working relationships with senior technical staff, other researchers and service support staff to ensure that experiments are conducted smoothly and within required timescales. Good communication is essential to gather and provide information on protocols, and deal with routine enquiries. The post holder will be required to liaise with members of other groups in order to resolve issues..
8. Knowledge, Skills and Experience Needed for the Job
Qualifications/Training
Essential Undergraduate degree in a biological science subject and PhD in relevant subject area. Trained in animal research with current/previous Home Office personal licence.
Desirable First Class Honours degree at undergraduate level.
Experience
Essential Previous employment in a research laboratory at postdoctoral level, conducting laboratory research at the forefront of a subject area relevant to biological sciences.
Desirable Previous experience of working in reproductive or cancer biology. Previous experience of providing training for students and staff.
Knowledge, Skills and Competencies
Essential Competence in cell culture, genetic manipulation (siRNA, miRNA, CRISPR/-Cas9), RNA and protein analyses, hormone assays and histological analyses including advanced imaging. Demonstrable evidence of ability to plan and implement novel scientific methodology. Highly competent in scientific writing, evidenced by a track record of publications in high-ranking journals.
Desirable Planning and conducting phenotypic drug screening assays.
Personal Attributes
Essential Evidence of excellent verbal and written communication skills, including highly effective presentation skills. Evidence of effective teamworking ability in addition to confidence in ability to work independently when required.
9. Dimensions
The postholder will be part of a collaborative research programme including University of Edinburgh PIs in two centres (MRC Centre for Reproductive Health and Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre), one senior research technician and three PhD students, in addition to external collaboration from US and Germany. The postholder will attend regular (1-2 weekly) lab meetings and will participate in 3-6 monthly meetings of the wider collaborative group
10. Job Context and any other relevant information
This post is available on a fixed term basis, with a working pattern of 35 hours per week for 24 months.
