Research (directory/vacancies)

A position is open for a Postdoctoral Research Associate as part of an ERC awarded project funded by UKIR at the University of Cambridge in the group Catalysis and Process Integration group led by Prof Laura Torrente (www.capi.ceb.cam.ac.uk).

The successful candidate will have a strong background in sorption processes (i.e. absorption or adsorption), kinetic studies and characterization of materials, including a PhD in a relevant area.

Knowledge of process design as well as the design, commissioning and use of flow systems will be advantageous.

The overall aim of the project is the development of novel green ammonia processes powered by renewable energy and able to cope with its intermittency nature.

The position will focus on the study of absorption for the separation of ammonia at relatively low partial pressures. The research will focus on the mechanism and kinetics of ammonia on metal halides as well as their decomposition.

The ability to work both as part of a team and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are required.

The duties/responsibilities of this post include: - developing and driving research objectives - writing up work for presentation and publication - collaborating with academic and industrial partners - assisting in the supervision of student research projects - delivering seminars and occasional talks as outlined on the Further Particulars document.

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: until the 28th of February 2028 in the first instance, with a possibility of extension subject to sponsor agreement.

Applicants should provide a CV, including contact details of three referees and a covering letter describing their suitability for the role.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 28 February 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 date 19th of May 2026.

Please quote reference NQ49576 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.

A position is open for a Postdoctoral Research Associate as part of an ERC awarded project funded by UKIR at the University of Cambridge in the group Catalysis and Process Integration group led by Prof Laura Torrente (www.capi.ceb.cam.ac.uk).

The aim of the project is the development of catalysts for the synthesis and cracking of green ammonia with a focus on mechanism understanding of nitrogen activation and kinetics studies. The research will also involve the investigation of novel ammonia synthesis routes, including chemical looping systems.

The successful candidate will have a strong background in the synthesis and characterisation of heterogeneous catalysts and expertise in chemical reaction engineering in particular the use of flow gas-phase reactors, including a PhD in a relevant area.

Experience in reactor design and commissioning, inorganic chemistry, nitrogen activation and chemical looping would be advantageous.

The ability to work both as part of a team and independently, coupled with excellent communication, organisational and problem-solving skills are required.

The duties/responsibilities of this post include: - developing and driving research objectives - writing up work for presentation and publication - collaborating with academic and industrial partners - assisting in the supervision of student research projects - delivering seminars and occasional talks as outlined on the Further Particulars document.

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: until the 28th of February 2028 in the first instance, with a possibility of extension subject to sponsor agreement.

Applicants should provide a CV, including contact details of three referees and a covering letter describing their suitability for the role.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 28 February 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 date 19th of May 2026.

Please quote reference NQ49577 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.

The BioNano Engineering Group headed by Prof. Ljiljana Fruk (fruk-lab.com) and Molecular Microbiology Group headed by Dr. Graham Christie are looking to appoint an outstanding Postdoctoral Research Associate to a UKRI Cross Research Council funded project aimed at developing a live biotherapeutic for reprogramming of the pancreatic cancer microenvironment. The position is part of a wider collaborative project with the Universities of Nottingham and Glasgow.

Pancreatic cancer has a complex and heterogeneous tumour microenvironment (TME) that often results in the disease being unresponsive to conventional therapies.

The TME is composed of multiple interacting biomolecules that form a dense matrix of cancer cells and immune components (tumour associated macrophages, natural killer cells, CD8+ T-cells) that play a significant role in regulating tumour growth and resistance to treatment. The heterogenous and immunosuppressive nature of the TME are major contributors to poor patient outcomes with conventional therapies.

Hence, while most traditional treatments focus on the elimination of cancer cells this UKRI Cross Research Council project aims to reprogram the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) stroma i.e., supportive tissue surrounding the tumour, as opposed to directly targeting cancer cells, with a view to overcoming limitations associated with current therapies. The major component of the Cambridge contribution to the project is to develop a live biotherapeutic engineered to have PDAC stroma reprogramming capability. The appointed PDRA will be expected to:

• Use synthetic and engineering biology tools to develop bacterial strains that produce immunomodulatory peptides and proteins of interest.
• Deploy responsive polymers that can be formulated with engineered bacteria and subsequently activated by ultrasound to modulate bacterial production of immunomodulatory molecules
• Validate the efficacy of the live biotherapeutic approach using 3D culture models of PDAC to demonstrate potential for clinical application.

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 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 date 17th of May 2026.

Please quote reference NQ49536 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.

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant (pre-doctoral) or Research Associate (post-doctoral) to conduct world-leading research on Leveraging Ontological Knowledge with Argumentative Agentic AI to Accelerate Chemical Development under the direction of Prof Alexei Lapkin.

The project is a collaboration with Prof Francesca Toni from Imperial College London, Dr Antonio Rago from Kings College London and industrial collaborators within the AIChemy Hub (https://aichemy.ac.uk/). The successful candidate will focus on extending the ontological knowledge base of chemical process development and extending the simulation environment of process models, recently developed in the group of Prof. Lapkin based in Cambridge and in Singapore (in Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore).

The successful candidate will contribute to the development of reinforcement learning agents operating with the knowledge base and the simulation environment. The developed knowledge base will provide data for advanced argumentative agentic AI based on reinforcement learning being developed at Imperial College London and Kings College. The project will develop an approach of including ontological knowledge base and expert knowledge within a multi-agentic AI framework.

The post is based in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. This is a leading department of Chemical Engineering among UK Universities. The successful applicant will join the Sustainable Reaction Engineering (SRE) research group, led by Prof Lapkin. The group is working on many aspects of transition towards sustainable chemistry, including digital transformation of R&D and manufacturing (lapkingroup.com).

The successful applicant will need to interact and collaborate with the other partners from Imperial College London, Kings College London and industry, as well as to engage with members of the AIchemy Hub, with expertise in AI and/or chemistry.

Duties and responsibilities

The position offers an exciting opportunity for conducting internationally leading and impactful research in chemical process development supported by AI. The postholder will be responsible for researching, shaping and delivering solutions based on chemical and process ontologies, the concept of knowledge graphs, simulation of models within Python environment, working in cloud computing environment and will be expected to submit publications to top-tier conferences and journals in Chemistry / Chemical Engineering and AI.

To apply for this position, you must have a strong background in chemical reaction engineering with a focus on first principles models and simulation using Python, and have experience in machine learning, for example, reinforcement learning, including a proven publication track-record, in at least two of the following areas, as well as ability and willingness to become familiar with the others: process modelling and simulation, machine learning, reinforcement learning, ontologies. You should also have:

• A Master's degree (Research Assistant) or PhD degree (Research Associate) in chemical engineering or a related area.
• Familiarity with advanced process modelling and simulation using first principles models.
• Familiarity with machine learning, coding in Python.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with others.
• Ability to organise your own work and set priorities to meet deadlines.
• Willingness to travel to conferences and meetings of the project and of the AIChemy Hubs.

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 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 date 10th of May 2026.

Please quote reference NQ49413 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.

Applications are invited for a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to work on vapour deposition of high-performance halide perovskite multijunction (tandem and triple-junction) solar cells. The candidate would be working as part of the ERC Consolidator Grant project VAPOURISE working on new deposition tools dedicated to the project. This project seeks to develop epitaxial growth of halide perovskites to enable new devices for energy generation (solar cells), conversion (solar fuels) and use (quantum emission) utilising multimodal characterisation platforms and automated analysis pipelines. This work builds on recent work in our group developing epitaxial growth by vapour deposition (Science 2025) and multimodal understanding of materials (Nature 2020, 2022, Science 2021, Nature Energy 2025).

We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic candidate with a PhD in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Engineering, Chemical Engineering or a related area. A proven track record of scientific publication and presentation at international conferences is essential.

Experience in perovskite solar cell (and/or other optoelectronic device) fabrication and characterisation is essential. Experience with multijunction perovskite solar cells and/or vapour deposition of halide perovskites is highly desired. Experience working with coding, automation and algorithm development is desired. The ability to conduct self-directed work whilst working together with colleagues in a wider programme will be essential. The role holder will also manage the key experimental setups associated with their work and extend existing capabilities. The PDRA will be team-oriented and work closely with other students (including some daily supervision) and PDRAs and international collaborators.

The successful PDRA candidate for this post will join the Optoelectronic Materials and Device Spectroscopy group (https://www.strankslab.com/) in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, and will also be part of the Optoelectronics Group (http://www.oe.phy.cam.ac.uk/). We are an inclusive and diverse group driving a number of active outreach and widening participation activities. Collectively, the PDRA will have access to world-leading expertise and facilities in the field of hybrid and organic electronics.

The successful candidate would start anytime from 1st September 2026, with some flexibility.

Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant and promoted to Research Associate when the PhD is awarded.

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.

Should you require any further details on the role, please email Mr Vito Candela, HR Administrator, at hr@ceb.cam.ac.uk.

Applications closing date 18th of May 2026.

Please quote reference NQ49154 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.