Salary: £36,636.00 - £37,694.00 per annum
Closing Date: 29 April 2026
Newcastle University offers a generous holiday package, opportunities to buy additional holidays, great pension schemes and a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
The Role
Do you have skills to bring microbial ecology to bear on engineering biology in the environment? We seek a full post‑doctoral research associate (PDRA) with a background or training in microbial ecology, environmental engineering, or another related academic discipline. Your job will be to transition engineering biology from the laboratory to real‑world applications using classical and non‑classical approaches. Key to this approach will be applying models and theories to both natural and synthetic engineering biology to find strategies that work at scale. This will require you to calibrate, validate and apply theories and models of the fate of pollutants in engineered biological systems. Thus, you will need skills and awareness of microbial ecology and environmental engineering, basic modelling and bioinformatics knowledge, and evolutionary biology will be an advantage. We also expect you to consider the wider social context of your work.
This position is part of a BBSRC Engineering Biology Mission hub funded centre: “New Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre (EBIC)”. As a member of this team you will benefit from the many opportunities EBIC affords its early‑career researchers. Though it is an in‑person role, we offer flexibility to support families and caring commitments where possible.
Key Accountabilities
* Design rigorous experiments to evaluate models and theories relevant to the development of engineering biology for the environment that work at scale.
* Execute those studies in a rigorous and timely manner.
* Liaise with other members of the EBIC team in Newcastle and partner universities.
* Present research findings at project meetings and national/international conferences.
* Support the project’s administrative and management duties such as organising meetings and workshop planning.
* Aid in the supervision of PhD and MEng research students.
* Write peer‑reviewed publications and reports.
* Analyse and interpret data to obtain new insights.
* Assist with the day‑to‑day running of the laboratory.
* Prepare manuscripts for publication to a very high standard.
* Interact effectively and courteously with team members and other colleagues.
* Contribute to an effective research culture.
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
* Experience in applying microbial ecology to engineered microbial systems.
* Basic modelling using command‑line tools.
* Ability to write peer‑reviewed journal articles.
* Ability to drive a research agenda independently.
* A high level of technical competency.
* A commitment to safe working practices.
Desirable
* Evidence of originality, innovation, creativity and a research track record including publications.
* Evidence of working in industry.
* Evidence of presenting research at national and international conferences.
Attributes and Behaviour
* Ability to work in a team.
* Commitment to maintaining and enhancing the research culture.
* Strong personal organisation skills.
* Initiative in pursuit of agreed objectives.
* Willingness to work flexibly (when appropriate) by mutual agreement.
* Willingness to supervise undergraduate, master’s and PhD students.
* Willingness to travel and visit project partners.
Desirable
* Willingness to work under pressure to achieve agreed deadlines.
* Experience in public engagement and disseminating research via professional and social media.
Qualifications
* PhD in microbial ecology, environmental engineering or a closely related subject.
Contact
Please contact Prof Tom Curtis (tom.curtis@ncl.ac.uk) for further details.
Please apply with a short cover letter and your Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Requisition ID: 29259
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. Newcastle University is a global university where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We actively recruit, support and retain colleagues from all sectors of society. We celebrate diversity and hold a Gold Athena Swan award as well as a Race Equality Charter Bronze award. We are a Disability Confident employer, offering an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. We support researchers across Europe through the Euraxess initiative.
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