Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Open Bioeconomy Lab, headed by Dr. Jenny Molloy (openbioeconomy.org), is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate for OpenBioMAPS, a BBSRC Engineering Biology Mission Award developing open source tools for distributed biomanufacturing of enzymes and antibodies at low-cost using benchtop microbial and plant systems.
The overall goals of OpenBioMAPS are to work with UK biomanufacturing startups and SMEs to better understand their needs for next-generation, affordable technologies; seed a community of developers and users of open biomanufacturing tools; create training for academics and industry scientists to develop skills at the interface of biology and engineering; and use this as a springboard to run interdisciplinary mini-projects across the UK engineering biology community.
The role holder will benchmark the open source yeast strain OpenPichia combined with expression constructs developed using the Open Yeast Collection to develop a yeast-based recombinant protein expression that can be freely distributed for commercial use. They will collaborate with Dr Scott Pownall (Open Science Network) on the Open Yeast Collection: supporting community-led development and characterisation of innovative DNA toolkits for protein expression in Pichia pastoris. They will also support Prof Jim Haseloff (Department of Plant Sciences) and Dr Matthew Wayland (Department of Zoology) on testing bioreactor and bioprocessing platforms to enable UK startups and SMEs to rapidly establish protein biomanufacturing workflows with low capital expenditure.
The successful candidate will have a PhD, or be studying towards a PhD, in synthetic biology or a related field, and will have experience of genome editing and strain engineering in bacteria or yeast. Experience with recombinant protein expression in Pichia pastoris is essential. The ability to work both as part of a team, and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are essential to this role. More information on the role and person specification is available on the Further Particulars attached.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD; those without a PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.
Fixed-term: the funds for this post are available for 6 months in the first instance.
Start date: given specific project needs and related timeframes, we are looking for the successful candidate to join the team ideally immediately but no later than mid August.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 29th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46324 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Open Bioeconomy Lab, headed by Dr. Jenny Molloy (openbioeconomy.org), is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate for OpenBioMAPS, a BBSRC Engineering Biology Mission Award developing open source tools for distributed biomanufacturing of enzymes and antibodies at low-cost using benchtop microbial and plant systems.
The overall goals of OpenBioMAPS are to work with UK biomanufacturing startups and SMEs to better understand their needs for next-generation, affordable technologies; seed a community of developers and users of open biomanufacturing tools; create training for academics and industry scientists to develop skills at the interface of biology and engineering; and use this as a springboard to run interdisciplinary mini-projects across the UK engineering biology community.
The role holder will benchmark the open source yeast strain OpenPichia combined with expression constructs developed using the Open Yeast Collection to develop a yeast-based recombinant protein expression that can be freely distributed for commercial use. They will collaborate with Dr Scott Pownall (Open Science Network) on the Open Yeast Collection: supporting community-led development and characterisation of innovative DNA toolkits for protein expression in Pichia pastoris. They will also support Prof Jim Haseloff (Department of Plant Sciences) and Dr Matthew Wayland (Department of Zoology) on testing bioreactor and bioprocessing platforms to enable UK startups and SMEs to rapidly establish protein biomanufacturing workflows with low capital expenditure.
The successful candidate will have a PhD, or be studying towards a PhD, in synthetic biology or a related field, and will have experience of genome editing and strain engineering in bacteria or yeast. Experience with recombinant protein expression in Pichia pastoris is essential. The ability to work both as part of a team, and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are essential to this role. More information on the role and person specification is available on the Further Particulars attached.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD; those without a PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.
Fixed-term: the funds for this post are available for 6 months in the first instance.
Start date: given specific project needs and related timeframes, we are looking for the successful candidate to join the team ideally immediately but no later than mid August.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 29th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46324 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology is seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to step into the ongoing project. The project is part of a large collaborative research effort involving Imperial College London, University of Bristol and three other groups at Cambridge. More information about the overarching project can be found here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/bio-sustainable-materials/
VALUED is aiming to demonstrate the development of functional nanomaterials derived from bio-renewable resources. Several different applications are being developed in the project. The experimental programme involves development of high-throughput experimental capability (at Imperial College London).
Our group is supporting the experimental team at Imperial College London with development of intelligent design of experiments methods, based on Bayesian Optimisation. In addition, the team at Cambridge has its own high-throughput and robotics facilities which we use as a testbed in developing new ML methods.
The successful candidate will be supervised by Prof. Alexei Lapkin and will be based at the Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies (https://idmt.online). iDMT hosts academic researchers and industrial researchers from the centre members. The successful candidate will be expected to lead scientific research within iDMT in collaboration with member companies, in the areas overlapping with the expertise involved in the VALUED project.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 11th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46146 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology is seeking a post-doctoral research fellow to step into the ongoing project. The project is part of a large collaborative research effort involving Imperial College London, University of Bristol and three other groups at Cambridge. More information about the overarching project can be found here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/bio-sustainable-materials/
VALUED is aiming to demonstrate the development of functional nanomaterials derived from bio-renewable resources. Several different applications are being developed in the project. The experimental programme involves development of high-throughput experimental capability (at Imperial College London).
Our group is supporting the experimental team at Imperial College London with development of intelligent design of experiments methods, based on Bayesian Optimisation. In addition, the team at Cambridge has its own high-throughput and robotics facilities which we use as a testbed in developing new ML methods.
The successful candidate will be supervised by Prof. Alexei Lapkin and will be based at the Innovation Centre in Digital Molecular Technologies (https://idmt.online). iDMT hosts academic researchers and industrial researchers from the centre members. The successful candidate will be expected to lead scientific research within iDMT in collaboration with member companies, in the areas overlapping with the expertise involved in the VALUED project.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 11th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46146 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The University of Cambridge and Infinitus (China) Company Limited established the Cambridge Infinitus Research Centre (CIRCE) within the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Cambridge to perform research into new biological activities associated with natural products.
With collaborators in Cambridge and other internationally ranked research establishments, the CIRCE research team uses state-of-the-art molecular biology and imaging technologies together with high-throughput screening methods to discover functional compounds and to characterise their mechanism of action at the organism, cellular, and molecular levels.
It is anticipated that this will not only yield high quality research outcomes, but may also lead to new leads for therapeutic products. The role of the post holder will be to carry out biological research activities within the CIRCE team in conjunction with other senior members of the research team.
The successful post holder will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and co-ordinate activities in a highly interdisciplinary team. Expertise in cell biology, bioinformatics and omics techniques are essential, as well as management and team building skills. Expertise in the use of cell imaging techniques would be advantageous. While the aim of CIRCE is to conduct basic science, the role requires interaction with our commercial partner and collaborators from international universities.
Key components of the programme include:
¿ With collaboration partners, oversee / perform small scale screening experiments to identify candidate molecules in clearly defined functional assays; such candidates will then be transferred to CIRCE for further assessment and characterisation.
¿ Establish within CIRCE cell and molecular assays and techniques appropriate for work on natural products supplied by international collaborators. Assays used will be amenable to real-time live cell imaging and high-end imaging technology (techniques potentially performed by others in the team).
¿ Identify a subset of candidates for detailed cellular and molecular analysis, including preliminary assessment of possible mechanisms of action.
¿ Perform studies on the mechanism of action of candidate molecules at the cellular and molecular levels, including techniques such as gene editing and targeted RNAi.
¿ Introduce synthetic analogues and variants of key compounds (developed by collaborators) to determine functional elements.
¿ Test analogues in key molecular and cellular assays.
¿ Publish research outputs in high impact factor journals.
CIRCE is placed in a dedicated research space featuring internationally leading activities in molecular and cell biology with world leading infrastructure in optical imaging, including super resolution microscopy, whole organism fluorescence imaging, and functional imaging for activity screens. The research will take place in a state-of-the-art research building that is currently being commissioned on the Cambridge West Site.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 July 2026 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 11th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46111 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The University of Cambridge and Infinitus (China) Company Limited established the Cambridge Infinitus Research Centre (CIRCE) within the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Cambridge to perform research into new biological activities associated with natural products.
With collaborators in Cambridge and other internationally ranked research establishments, the CIRCE research team uses state-of-the-art molecular biology and imaging technologies together with high-throughput screening methods to discover functional compounds and to characterise their mechanism of action at the organism, cellular, and molecular levels.
It is anticipated that this will not only yield high quality research outcomes, but may also lead to new leads for therapeutic products. The role of the post holder will be to carry out biological research activities within the CIRCE team in conjunction with other senior members of the research team.
The successful post holder will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and co-ordinate activities in a highly interdisciplinary team. Expertise in cell biology, bioinformatics and omics techniques are essential, as well as management and team building skills. Expertise in the use of cell imaging techniques would be advantageous. While the aim of CIRCE is to conduct basic science, the role requires interaction with our commercial partner and collaborators from international universities.
Key components of the programme include:
¿ With collaboration partners, oversee / perform small scale screening experiments to identify candidate molecules in clearly defined functional assays; such candidates will then be transferred to CIRCE for further assessment and characterisation.
¿ Establish within CIRCE cell and molecular assays and techniques appropriate for work on natural products supplied by international collaborators. Assays used will be amenable to real-time live cell imaging and high-end imaging technology (techniques potentially performed by others in the team).
¿ Identify a subset of candidates for detailed cellular and molecular analysis, including preliminary assessment of possible mechanisms of action.
¿ Perform studies on the mechanism of action of candidate molecules at the cellular and molecular levels, including techniques such as gene editing and targeted RNAi.
¿ Introduce synthetic analogues and variants of key compounds (developed by collaborators) to determine functional elements.
¿ Test analogues in key molecular and cellular assays.
¿ Publish research outputs in high impact factor journals.
CIRCE is placed in a dedicated research space featuring internationally leading activities in molecular and cell biology with world leading infrastructure in optical imaging, including super resolution microscopy, whole organism fluorescence imaging, and functional imaging for activity screens. The research will take place in a state-of-the-art research building that is currently being commissioned on the Cambridge West Site.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 July 2026 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 11th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46111 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Tunable Self-Assembly of Decanuclear Ni(II) Carbonato Clusters with a Hydroxyquinolinato Shell: Robust Porous Networks with Reversible Solvent-/Temperature-Driven Phase Transitions and Selective Gas Separation
J Am Chem Soc. 2025 May 27. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c04096. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
The utilization of molecular metal clusters as building units of noncovalent porous materials (NPMs) is a promising strategy, combining the versatile functionality of organic and inorganic subunits with the softness and flexibility of molecular solids controlled by noncovalent interactions. However, the development of robust porous functional frameworks based on self-assembly driven by noncovalent forces is still highly challenging. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of a discrete decanuclear Ni(II) hydroxyquinolinato-carbonato cluster, [Ni10(μ6-CO3)4(L)12], which, depending on the crystallization conditions, self-assembles into either of two microporous frameworks: diamondoid WUT-1(Ni) and pyrite WUT-2(Ni). The transitions between both polymorphs can also be selectively triggered by temperature or exposure to vapors of a particular organic solvent, which is accompanied by the easy recovery of crystallinity by the materials from the noncrystalline phase. Moreover, both materials show excellent robustness toward various chemical environments, including air/moisture and water stability, and demonstrate interesting gas adsorption properties. Remarkably, WUT-1(Ni) exhibits significant enhancement in gas uptake compared to the previously reported isostructural Zn(II) analogue, WUT-1(Zn), representing one of the highest H2 uptakes among NPMs. In turn, tighter voids of the ultramicroporous WUT-2(Ni) framework facilitate selective interactions with gas molecules, resulting in outstanding selectivity in the adsorption of CO2 over CH4 and N2. The presented studies demonstrate the profound role of the character of metal centers on the self-assembly of isostructural nanoclusters as well as properties of the resulting microporous frameworks.
PMID:40421976 | DOI:10.1021/jacs.5c04096
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Open Bioeconomy Lab, headed by Dr Jenny Molloy (openbioeconomy.org), is seeking a Research Associate for "EngZyme: Engineered Enzymatic Catalysts for In-flow CO2 Upcycling", an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership in collaboration with Hitachi Europe Ltd, developing engineered proteins for carbon upcycling and sustainability.
The role holder will collaborate with computational and biological scientists at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory as well as Dr Ljiljana Fruk's team in the BioNano Group at Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. Improved enzymes will be combined with nanoparticle catalysts and novel bioprocessing technologies to deliver efficient pathways for upcycling captured carbon into high value products.
The successful candidate will have a PhD, or be studying towards a PhD, in synthetic biology or a related field, and will have experience with cell-free protein expression systems, protein engineering, high throughput screening and lab automation. Extensive experience with recombinant protein expression and an interest in and familiarity with computational protein engineering approaches is essential. Hands-on experience in computational protein design and engineering is desirable.
The ability to work both as part of a team, and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are essential to this role. More information on the role and person specification is available on the Further Particulars attached. For informal enquiries please contact Dr Jenny Molloy (jcm80@cam.ac.uk).
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD; those without a PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 March 2028 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 15th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46023 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
The Open Bioeconomy Lab, headed by Dr Jenny Molloy (openbioeconomy.org), is seeking a Research Associate for "EngZyme: Engineered Enzymatic Catalysts for In-flow CO2 Upcycling", an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership in collaboration with Hitachi Europe Ltd, developing engineered proteins for carbon upcycling and sustainability.
The role holder will collaborate with computational and biological scientists at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory as well as Dr Ljiljana Fruk's team in the BioNano Group at Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. Improved enzymes will be combined with nanoparticle catalysts and novel bioprocessing technologies to deliver efficient pathways for upcycling captured carbon into high value products.
The successful candidate will have a PhD, or be studying towards a PhD, in synthetic biology or a related field, and will have experience with cell-free protein expression systems, protein engineering, high throughput screening and lab automation. Extensive experience with recombinant protein expression and an interest in and familiarity with computational protein engineering approaches is essential. Hands-on experience in computational protein design and engineering is desirable.
The ability to work both as part of a team, and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are essential to this role. More information on the role and person specification is available on the Further Particulars attached. For informal enquiries please contact Dr Jenny Molloy (jcm80@cam.ac.uk).
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD; those without a PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 March 2028 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
Applications closing dates 15th of June 2025.
Please quote reference NQ46023 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Engineering Bodipy-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks for Efficient Full-Spectrum Photocatalysis in Amide Synthesis
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Apr 7:e202505405. doi: 10.1002/anie.202505405. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Developing photocatalysts that can efficiently utilize the full solar spectrum is a crucial step toward transforming sustainable energy solutions. Due to their light absorption limitations, most photo-responsive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are constrained to the ultraviolet (UV) and blue light regions. Expanding their absorption to encompass the entire solar spectrum would unlock their full potential, greatly enhancing efficiency and applicability. Here, we report the design and synthesis of a series of highly stable boron-dipyrromethene (bodipy)-based MOFs (BMOFs) by reacting dicarboxyl-functionalized bodipy ligands with Zr-oxo clusters. Leveraging the acidity of the methyl groups on the bodipy backbone, we expanded the conjugation system through a solid-state condensation reaction with various aldehydes, achieving full-color absorption, thereby extending the band edge into the near-infrared (NIR) and infrared (IR) regions. These BMOFs demonstrated exceptional reactivity and recyclability in heterogeneous photocatalytic activities, including C─H bond activation of saturated aza-heterocycles and C─N bond cleavage of N,N-dimethylanilines to produce amides under visible light. Our findings highlight the transformative potential of BMOFs in photocatalysis, marking a significant leap forward in the design of advanced photocatalytic materials with tunable properties.
PMID:40192658 | DOI:10.1002/anie.202505405