Are you interested in Synthetic metabolism (Metabolic engineering)? Join the efforts to develop biological solutions to solve global challenges in sustainability. Microbial Metabolic engineering group of Dr Patrik Jones is seeking to recruit a Research Associate to work on the European Commission Horizon 2020 funded projects PHOTOFUEL and eForFuel. The group based at the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College London, study and engineer the metabolism of heterotrophic and photoautotrophic bacteria with the objective to enhance our overall sustainability.

Duties and responsibilities

The objective with this position is to

1.  Identify novel improved enzymes,
2. Design and Implement synthetic metabolic solutions in microorganisms for high-efficiency conversion of substrate into target chemicals
3. Optimize such strains with the help of mass spectrometry based analysis.

The work will involve the following methodologies: Metabolic engineering, Maintenance and cultivation of microorganisms, Recombinant DNA cloning, Protein expression, purification and characterization, and Mass spectrometry. The work will also involve a substantial component of team work, both within the group and as part of consortia. There may also be other duties involved in the operation and outreach activities of the research group. All of the work is carried out within the framework of EU Horizon 2020 consortium projects that involves completing set tasks and deliverables in a creative and systematic manner, as well as to generate scientific publications.

Essential requirements

• You should have a PhD (or equivalent) in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Biotechnology or a related subject.
• Experience and Knowledge with Molecular Biology
• Experience and Knowledge with Metabolic Engineering
• Experience and Knowledge of Biochemistry or Enzymology
• Demonstrable experience and knowledge of microbiology, mass spectrometry analysis and adaptive evolution are highly desirable but not essential.

You must also have the following skills and abilities:

• experience of working in a team
• develop and apply new concepts and have a creative approach to problem-solving.
• excellent verbal and written communication skills, and be able to write clearly and succinctly for publication.
• organise your own work with minimal supervision, and prioritise effectively in response to deadlines.
• high level analytical capability
• communicate complex information clearly
• apply relevant models, techniques and methods and develop new ones
• assess resource requirements and deploy them effectively
• encourage research culture in others

For enquiries about the position, please contact Dr Patrik Jones by email: p.jones@imperial.ac.uk

If you have any other queries, please contact Peggy Baker, Senior HR Administrator: peggy.baker@imperial.ac.uk.