Research Assistant

Salary: £29,619 to £31,411 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 09 February 2023

The Role

We are looking to appoint a Research Assistant/Associate in assaying of plant immune receptors within the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.

You will have the opportunity to develop a biophysical (microscale thermophoresis) assay to measure ligand-protein interactions and guide the design of allosteric modulators of tomato phytosulfokine receptors.

The goal of the project will be to validate tomato PSKR1 receptor as a molecular target for intervention boosting immune responses against necrotrophic pathogens.

You will work collaboratively with a team of medicinal chemists, plant biologists, and industrial partners (Fontus Environmental and Crop Intellect) to achieve the project’s goals and to achieve the milestones set out within the project.

You will keep excellent records of all procedures, protocols, workflows, and outcomes, enabling reuse, interpretation by team members and delivery of project milestones. You will be responsible for reporting to the lead investigators and presenting outcomes of your work when required.

We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Agnieszka Bronowska agnieszka.bronowska@newcastle.ac.uk

To apply, please complete an online application and upload a CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter is a supporting statement and you should outline how you meet the essential criteria of the role and evidence this with examples.

Key Accountabilities
⦁ Design, implement, test and validate a protocol suitable for the purification-free MST assay
⦁ Transient expression of GFP-fused protein in planta
⦁ Writing of a full protocol
⦁ Contribute to the triage of novel allosteric modulators of PSK receptors
⦁ Contribution to writing a scientific paper, a project report, and a grant proposal
⦁ Oral presentations at meetings and end-user workshop
⦁ Contribution to organisation of the outreach activity

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
⦁ Demonstrable experience in recombinant protein expression
⦁ In-depth understanding of plant phytosulfokine signalling and allosteric regulation
⦁ In-depth understanding of thermodynamics of ligand-protein interactions
⦁ Demonstrable experience of protein biochemistry
⦁ Experience in molecular docking calculations
⦁ Publication of work in peer-reviewed journals
⦁ Documented experience in organisation and/or delivery of outreach activities
⦁ Documented experience in writing project reports and grant proposals
Desirable
⦁ Demonstrable experience in atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of protein-ligand complexes
⦁ Experience in high-performance computing applied to macromolecules
⦁ Experience with immobilisation-free biophysical binding assays, in particular MST
⦁ Demonstrable experience of engagement with industrial partners
⦁ Demonstrable experience working with biochemists, plant biologists and/or colleagues of different disciplines
⦁ Presentation of work at group meetings scientific events

Attributes and Behaviour
⦁ Excellent communication skills both oral and written (e.g technical reports, papers, presentations, etc)
⦁ Capacity for original thought and independent work
⦁ Excellent problem-solving skills
⦁ Ability to interact with people from different disciplines and work as part of a team
⦁ Punctual and reliable; excellent time-management skills
⦁ Professional approach with a commitment to equality, diversity, dignity and respect in the workplace
Desirable
⦁ Communication skills with the general public

Qualifications
⦁ PhD awarded in plant biology, protein biochemistry, chemistry, biophysics, or a very closely related discipline
⦁ At least 2.1 class (or international equivalent) undergraduate degree and/or Masters degree in biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, or related discipline

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25024