Research Assistant in Synthetic Cell Design and Construction

Job Summary The Department of Chemical Engineering is seeking a Research Assistant to work on the design and construction of engineered molecular robots: synthetic cells. The post is funded by the UKRI and associated with a Marie Sklodowska Curie Action Doctoral Network on Synthetic Cells, SigSynCell. As part of this post, you will enrol on a PhD programme under the supervision of Dr Yuval Elani in the Bioinspired Engineering Group and be part of a collaborative research programme conducted by 12 PhD students and 11 Academics all across Europe.

Duties and Responsibilities Cells are known to communicate with one another across large distances using extracellular vesicles (exosomes) as chemical messengers. These membrane-bound compartments are released by sender cells in response to environmental cues and are then taken up and processed by receiving cells, leading to a response, for example the activation of a genetic programme. In this project, you will develop the underlying science to replicate this concept in synthetic cells, enabling them to communicate with one another over large distances. The resulting technology will underpin powerful use cases for synthetic cells as new classes of therapeutic and diagnostic agents. We will achieve this by leveraging and building upon existing biomembrane engineering, microfluidics and chemical biology technologies already established in the Elani group. As a member of the Bioinspired Engineering group, you will be part of a vibrant, inclusive and dynamic multidisciplinary team working at the forefront of biotechnology. You will be embedded in a world-leading engineering biology ecosystem at Imperial and affiliated with fabriCELL and the Imperial for Synthetic Biology, benefiting from all their training, collaboration and enterprise initiatives.

The expected start date is around October 2024, although there is some flexibility on this.

You can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the UK more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before your recruitment date. You must not have spent more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before your recruitment in the same appointing organisation.

You will be expected to register for a PhD at Imperial College and meet the requirements for a PhD https://www.imperial.ac.uk/chemical-engineering/courses/postgraduate/phd/

Informal enquiries about the post can be made to Dr Yuval Elani at [email protected]

Closing date: Midnight Wednesday 5^th June 2024

 Essential requirements

The following essential knowledge, skills & experience are sought:

·      MRes, MSc, or equivalent in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, bioengineering or a related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience

·      Practical experience in relevant research areas (membrane biophysics, chemical biology, cell engineering, microfluidics, molecular bioengineering etc)

·      Experience of working in a multidisciplinary and diverse team

Further Information

 The contract will run for 36 months. The post is based in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London (South Kensington Campus).

The College may not be able to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship for this post under Tier 2 of the UKVI’s Points Based System. Any candidate, who is considering applying for this position and requires sponsorship, must ensure that they are able to obtain permission to work in the UK through an appropriate immigration route.