Research Scientist (Bacterial Microcompartments)

Background

Many bacteria within the human GI-tract microbiota have the ability to produce specialised organelles called bacterial microcompartments (BMCs), which house specific metabolic pathways to enhance the degradation of mucosal-derived substrates.

The Role

The overall aim of this project is to investigate the form and function of BMCs within the human microbiota in both health and disease. BMCs are proteinaceous organelles found in a broad range of bacteria and are particularly prevalent in enteric species. They represent an emerging area of interest as the BMC is able to confer specific catabolic activities on the bacterium to help in the degradation of mucosal-derived metabolites such as propanediol, ethanolamine and choline. Detailed bioinformatics approaches and microbiome analysis indicate that BMCs likely play an important role within the microbiota, providing key advantages to organisms expressing them over non-BMC containing bacteria in terms of handling toxic intermediates and enhancing flux.

The Ideal Candidate

We are seeking a Research Scientist with experience in microbiology and/or biochemistry, imaging, synthetic biology and animal-microbe interactions. You should have a PhD or equivalent in Biochemistry, Microbiology or a related discipline. You will have a proven record in scientific writing and demonstrated ability to perform research and develop novel ideas.

Additional Information

Salary on appointment will be within the range £32,255 to £39,345 per annum depending on qualifications and experience. This is a full-time post for a contract of 5 years.

Further information and details of how to apply can be found here or contact the Human Resources team on [contact hidden] or [contact hidden] quoting reference 1003941.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The Institute supports equality of opportunity within the workplace and expects all employees to share and display these values. To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work.

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.

About the Quadram Institute

The Quadram Institute is a new interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Its mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food. A partnership between [Employer hidden], the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, it brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute.

Closing Date

The closing date for applications will be 4 November 2020.

The [Employer hidden] is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.