View Vacancy -- MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientist LMS 1946

Open Date
13/09/2022, 11:00
Close Date
16/10/2022, 23:55
MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences

The London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS) is a Medical Research Council funded research institute at the Hammersmith Hospital campus (London W12) of Imperial College London, with around 400 biomedical researchers undertaking multidisciplinary and internationally-competitive science.

For more information, visit www.lms.mrc.ac.uk.

UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org

MRC - 4
London
£35,143 plus London allowances (£3,727 & £1,402) per annum
Additional allowances comprise a £1,000 lump sum Settlement Allowance plus a yearly Training Allowance of £850 in the first year, paid in monthly instalments. The Training Allowance increases to £1,300 in year two, and £1,800 in the third year.
Fixed Term
Science
Full Time
3 Years

Overall purpose:

The Functional Gene Control group led by Dr Mikhail Spivakov combines experimental and computational approaches to study how genomic and epigenetic information is integrated with extrinsic signals to promote concerted changes in phenotype such as cell differentiation and activation. The group’s focus is on the function of distal DNA regulatory elements such as enhancers in these processes, and on human innate immune cells as experimental systems. The post holder will study the interplay between physical enhancer-promoter connectivity and function using high-throughput chromosomal conformation and CRISPR interference/activation approaches, and lead the development of new methodologies to address these questions.

Job Summary:

The post holders will lead independent and original research within the group, deliver the scientific aims of the projects and take an active role in preparing the results for publications in refereed journals. They will also help supervise students and contribute to the smooth running of the research group.

Main Responsibilities:

  • Plan and carry out research in accordance with agreed project aims
  • Take initiative in the planning of the research project
  • Formulate and test hypothesis to progress the research project
  • Implement state-of-the-art experimental and/or computational techniques for data generation, collection and analysis
  • Conduct data analysis ensuring its validity and reliability of data at all times
  • Maintain accurate and complete records of all findings
  • Run analyses and tests using specified and agreed techniques and models
  • Help with the smooth running, organization of the laboratory and ensuring that GLP and good data management are observed in all procedures directly related to the research project
  • Prioritise tasks within agreed work schedules
  • Contribute to writing bids for research grants
  • Attend project and related research group meetings
  • Actively interact and collaborate with researchers in related projects
  • Write up and publish work arising from the projects in peer-reviewed journals
  • Take an active part in the academic activities of the LMS
  • Attend and contribute to journal clubs and seminar presentations
  • Present data at national and international meetings (where and when appropriate)
  • Form good working relationships with other group members, as well as internal and external collaborators
  • Assist others and co-supervise students when required

This is an MRC Postdoctoral Scientist position providing training and development supporting post-doctoral scientists in early or changed career paths helping establish them as successful research scientists in their chosen field.

Applicants must have a PhD (or equivalent experience) in either a numeric discipline (such as mathematics, statistics, physics or computer science) or a biomedical discipline. Ideally, they should have experience in both wet-lab and computational genomics research, although exceptional ‘wet-lab’- or computational-only candidates are also encouraged to apply. The candidates should be able to demonstrate their previous research output through publications, conference proceedings, preprints and/or open-source software. The successful candidate should also have the ability to develop and apply new concepts, have a creative approach to problem solving, and be able to write clearly and succinctly for publication.

Education / Qualifications / Training required (will be assessed from application form):

Essential:

  • PhD (or equivalent) in a biomedical discipline

Previous work experience required (will be assessed from application form and at interview):

Essential:

  • Extensive wet-lab experience in devising and troubleshooting high-throughput chromatin assays

and/or

  • Extensive wet-lab experience in devising and troubleshooting high-throughput CRISPR perturbation techniques

Desirable:

  • A dual experimental and computational research expertise
  • Experience in 4C, SPRITE and/or HiChIP techniques
  • Experience in inducible CRISPR systems

Knowledge and experience (will be assessed from application form and at interview):

Essential:

  • A keen interest in gene regulation
  • A proven research record evidenced through publications, conference proceedings, preprints and/or open-source software
  • Excellent written communication skills, ability to write clearly and succinctly for publication

Desirable:

  • Experience in cell culture
  • Experience in pluripotent stem cell work
  • Experience in genomics data analysis
  • Experience in a scripting language such as R or Python, and understanding of existing tools available in these languages for genomics data analysis and visualisation

Personal skills/behaviours/qualities (will be assessed at the interview):

Essential:

  • Ability to work independently and as part of a team (both locally and remotely with close international collaborators)
  • Ability to work in partnership with, and seek advice from, external collaborators
  • Evidence of ability to conduct research independently, from the planning stages to execution and write-up
  • The desire to learn and acquire new skills and to pro-actively seek novel and creative solutions to scientific problems
  • Willingness to share knowledge and skills with other members of the group on a daily basis
  • Good verbal communication skills in English
  • Ability to constructively criticize one’s own and others results

Applicants should submit CV with a brief cover letter describing their motivation for the post and how they fit the person specification, along with the names and contacts of two scientific references. Please do not send reference letters at this stage. Please quote reference number: LMS 1946

This role qualifies for endorsement by UKRI for a UK Global Talent Visa, for which the successful applicant is likely to be eligible to apply. Immigration costs for applicant (100% visa and 100% Health Surcharge) and immediate dependents (100% visa and 50% health surcharge when applying with main applicant) can be reclaimed from LMS after taking up the post (terms and conditions apply).

The MRC is a great place to work and progress your career, be it in scientific research or the support functions.The MRC is a unique working environment where our researchers are rewarded by world class innovation and collaboration opportunities that the MRC name brings. The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council.

Choosing to come to work at the MRC (part of UKRI) means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement to access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme, as well as the chance to put the MRC and UKRI on your CV in the future.

Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We welcome applications from all sections of the community irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability or age. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.

We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.  The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role.  UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

This opportunity is closed to applications.