The Role and Department

The Department of Biosciences is composed of 62 academic staff and research fellows; around 50 research and technical support staff; over 90 Research Postgraduate students and over 500 Single Honours undergraduate students, and also teaches students from the Natural Sciences programme. The Department is committed to an ethos of research-led teaching at both BSc and MBiol levels, and was ranked 5^th in the UK for Biological Sciences Departments in the Complete University Guide 2023.

Our basic science underpins applications across each-and-every sector of the bio-economy, including Biotechnology, Ecology and Agritechnology. Research programmes are grouped in the following areas: Molecular Plant Sciences; Biomolecular Interactions; Ecology, Evolution and Environment; and Animal Cells and Systems. These groups organise focused seminar series, Research Away Days, manage joint research facilities, oversee mentoring, internal peer review and serve to nucleate larger research projects. Along with our excellent research facilities such as bioimaging, proteomics, metabolomics and genomics we offer a high quality and supportive environment for our research staff.

The Dept. of Biosciences partners with other areas of research strength in Durham University including Computational Sciences and Chemistry, and encourages multidisciplinary research for Health and Wellbeing. Durham University was listed in the Times Higher World Top 50 Life Science Challengers (July 2017).

The Department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation and progression. The Department embraces excellence in all of its forms and invites all qualified applicants to apply. We particularly welcome applications from women and black and minority ethnic candidates who are under-represented in the academic sector.

The successful candidate will join the newly established Centre for Programmable Biological Matter, led by Professor Jonathan Heddle. We are a large, multidisciplinary, and well-equipped laboratory with a grand vision to design, develop, understand and build novel biological nanomachines. We expect that our research will lead to break throughs in new materials and therapeutics. These will all be biocompatible, biodegradable and highly sustainable.

In your role you will produce and analysis samples, providing results and appropriately processed data to laboratory colleagues. You will also be involved in maintaining equipment and designing new experimental protocols as well as ensuring the day-to-day upkeep and running of the lab in conjunction with the lab manager.

Further information about the role and the responsibilities is at the bottom of this job description.

The post is full time, fixed term for 60 months. Funding is available from the 1^st September 2023.