Research Associate in Bio Pathway Engineering

You will be expected to submit publications to refereed journals and to attract external research funding. The Micklefield lab has an eclectic philosophy and is highly interdisciplinary, tackling diverse challenges at the Chemistry-Biology interface. Our team exploit techniques and knowledge from organic chemistry and enzymology through to molecular microbiology and genetics to develop sustainable routes to target molecules. The main research themes include: 1) Biosynthesis and biosynthetic pathway engineering providing novel bioactive natural products particularly new antibiotics to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and treat neglected diseases; 2) Biocatalysis & integrated catalysis encompassing enzyme discovery, characterisation & engineering for enzymatic synthesis. Merging chemo- and biocatalysis for telescoping routes to pharmaceuticals and other valuable products; 3) Nucleic acids chemistry and biology, including developing new routes to nucleic acid therapeutics (NAT) and functional tools such as riboswitches and aptamers.

What we are looking for
Hold a PhD in Chemistry or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience
Practical experience within a research environment and / or publication in relevant and refereed journals
Experience of working and dealing with industrial collaborators
Experience in writing, editing, and critiquing research proposals
Knowledge of key concepts in chemistry and synthetic biology
Knowledge of key secondary metabolism enzymes that produce natural products
Knowledge of methods/principles for protein expression in E. coli