Laboratory Research Scientist

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Reporting to: Caroline Hill, Head of Developmental Signalling Laboratory

Contract term: This is a full-time, fixed term (1 year) position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

The Role

We are seeking a talented and ambitious researcher for a 1-year maternity cover position to work on a chemical biology project that is part of an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership. This partnership brings together multiple research groups at the Crick and GSK to pioneer use of reactive fragments and high-content screening technologies in cellular disease model systems. The role will be at the level of a Laboratory Research Scientist and will suit someone who has just graduated and is looking for lab research experience.

The project will involve working up hits from a high throughput phenotypic screen that we have carried out using a library of covalent fragments. The screen consisted of the differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to definitive endoderm with the aim of finding hits involved in perturbing signalling pathways involved in the differentiation. We now want to discover the targets of the hits and work on the underlying biology. The project will involve working with the high throughput screening facility and with chemists and experts in proteomics who are associated with the Prosperity Partnership, while being based in the Developmental Signalling laboratory.

The Research Group

The Developmental Signalling Laboratory headed by Caroline Hill focuses on cell signalling in early vertebrate development and disease. Our work seeks to understand how TGF-b family signalling pathways function normally in early vertebrate development and in adult untransformed cells, and how these signalling pathways are perturbed in disease, in particular in cancer and the Marfan-related syndromes. Work in the Hill laboratory exploits the very powerful combination of early vertebrate developmental systems (zebrafish embryos), together with a variety of model tissue culture systems (human and mouse ES cell/iPS cell models), and mouse cancer models and uses a very wide range of methodologies including developmental and cell biology, cancer biology, next generation sequencing and computational modelling. The Hill lab encourages creative and independent thinking and promotes excellent training and mentoring. The group currently comprises 13 people – seven postdocs, two PhD students, a clinical fellow, two PDRAs and a Senior Laboratory Research scientist.

Key responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

• Planning and carrying out experiments under the supervision of Dr Caroline Hill and Dr Michael Howell in the High Throughput Screening Facility at the Crick.
• Collaborating with others in the Prosperity Partnership (chemists and experts in proteomics) to discover the targets of the hits.
• Writing up the experiments and keeping excellent notes and documenting the data.
• Presenting at lab meetings and Prosperity Partnership meetings.
• Collaborating with others in the Developmental Signalling lab as opportunities arise.

Experience and Competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values:

Bold; Open; Collegial

• BSc degree in a relevant biological subject
• Technical expertise in tissue culture, imaging and molecular biology
• Knowledge and experience of working with iPSCs
• Ability to work independently and also capable of interacting within a group, with good communication skills
• Eagerness to work in an interdisciplinary environment at the interface between academia and industry
• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to prioritise and manage own time
• Ability to work collaboratively
• Ability to communicate and present data

About Us

At the Crick, we conduct research at the forefront of biomedical research. We combine rigour with an open and collaborative culture, and are outward-looking, reflecting our status as a partnership of six organisations aiming to pool knowledge, ideas and resources.

We have a wide research portfolio with no divisions or departments, bringing biomedical researchers together with clinicians, physical scientists and applied scientists from our pharmaceutical partners.

We aim to attract the most talented researchers and support them to tackle innovative research questions. Our science technology platforms provide our researchers with access to state-of-the-art technology and expertise.

We provide an excellent learning environment with dedicated education programmes in public engagement with science, education and personal development, and a postdoc training programme that prepares scientists for leadership roles in science.

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please apply via our website.
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.
• If you require a visa to work in the UK we will help support your application should you be successful.

Find out what benefits the Crick has to offer:

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Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

We welcome applications from all backgrounds. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, pregnancy, age, disability, or civil partnership, marital or family status. We particularly welcome applications from people who are Minority Ethnic as they are currently underrepresented in the Crick at this level.

Diversity is essential to excellence in scientific endeavour. It increases breadth and perspective, leading to more innovation and creativity. We want the Crick to be a place where everyone feels valued and where diversity is celebrated and seen as part of the foundation for our Institute’s success.

The Crick is committed to creating equality of opportunity and promoting diversity and inclusivity. We all share in the responsibility to actively promote dignity, respect, inclusivity and equal treatment and it is our aim to ensure that these principles are reflected and implemented in all strategies, policies and practices.