34 Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

We are seeking a highly motivated Research Assistant/Associate to join our team in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care on a new Cancer Research UK funded research programme focused on how to optimise implementation of breast cancer risk assessment into the NHS for women under age 50.

The successful candidate will be encouraged to contribute to all components of the programme but will be expected to i) contribute to qualitative work with healthcare professionals and policy makers to identify key points in current pathways that would be impacted by the introduction of different approaches to the implementation of a proactive risk-assessment process; ii) support qualitative work with members of the public to co-design potential strategies for implementing proactive breast cancer risk assessment within current clinical care; iii) lead on the set up and data collection for an online survey with members of the public; and iv) lead on the design, data collection and analysis of a pilot study and subsequent cluster-randomised trial of proactive risk assessment within primary care.

Applications are invited for a Senior Research Associate (Core Service Technologist with a specialist in Neuroscience) to join the Institute of Metabolic Science – Metabolic Research Laboratories with the Clinical School of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge (https://www.mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/).

The Senior Research Associate/Technologist will work closely with the Blouet group and Disease Model Core (DMC) to simultaneously support the research and advancement of in vivo metabolic phenotyping by developing, optimising, validating and standardising protocols that integrate discrete peripheral or central optogenetic/chemogenetic manipulations with advanced metabolic, behavioural, and neuroendocrine assessments and/or surgical models. The role is expected to integrate new protocols into the DMC operations and address the needs of the department in relation to metabolic and nutrient sensing circuits in physiological conditions.

Working in the Space Photovoltaics research group within the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, under the supervision of Prof. Louise Hirst, you will develop methods for fabricating high-performance III-V photovoltaic devices for space power applications. This will include the fabrication of devices with epitaxially grown III-V films using planar device process techniques.

You will characterise the performance of these devices using precision optical and electrical measurements including dark IV, light IV, EQE and ellipsometry. You will perform optical and device simulation and correlate with measurements to interpret results, diagnose problems and iteratively improve performance.

The initial project is focused on developing data resources and predictive models of risk for mental health outcomes among children and young people. The Research Assistant will use unique datasets including the SAIL Databank and a new dataset called CADRE, each of which combine data from healthcare, social care, education, and other agencies. Using a prepared list of risk factors, the Research Assistant will compare model performance of single- versus multi-agency data. The Research Assistant will assist in preparing metadata for CADRE, including a data catalogue. Future projects will involve similar work as TIMELY Team projects develop. The Research Assistant will be responsible for some administrative and support tasks for the team. They will be supervised by the project lead and will participate in team meetings. Contribution to publications will be needed. All necessary training will be provided.

We are pleased to advertise a position within the Genomic Disorders and Cognitive Development programme, led by Dr Kate Baker. The programme takes an interdisciplinary approach to characterising phenotypes and understanding mechanisms in neurodevelopmental disorders of genetic origin. Applicants should be motivated to carry out participant-centred cognitive neuroscience research, with enjoyment of working independently and as part of a team.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to work on computational modelling of prosthetic heart valves with Dr Shelly Singh-Gryzbon in the department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Funding is available for a 1 year fixed-termed post in the first instance.

The aim of the project is to develop and validate computational models and simulations for assessing clinical outcomes of aortic valve replacement procedures. Research will be focused on valve thrombosis, coronary obstruction, and structural implications of valve-in-valve procedures.

Necessary qualifications include a PhD in a relevant subject area. Candidates must demonstrate experience in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), and/or fluid-structure interactions (FSI) for problems involving large deformations. Experience with experimental fluid and structural mechanics or medical device design would also be an advantage.

Applications are invited for up to two post-doctoral research associate positions in the groups of Prof. Dame Clare P. Grey to use a combined theoretical and experimental approaches to understand ion dynamics and degradation in Li-ion battery electrodes.

The project will explore the factors that influence ion dynamics in electrode materials for Li-ion batteries. Li+ ion dynamics in the bulk of the materials, as well as through interfaces will be investigated. Degradation processes that occur during battery operation will be studied to gain insight into their mechanisms and potential mitigation strategies.

The successful candidates will use X-ray diffraction techniques to characterise battery materials and so experience in this field is essential. They will also make use of a variety of modelling/simulation methodos to rationalise experimental results; therefore, experience with density functional theory and/or molecular dyamics simulations is essential. Experience with nuclear magnetic resonance methods (MAS-NMR, PFG) and electrochemical methods, and methods to characterise lithium diffusion and transport are desirable. The projects will involve collaboration with other researchers, both international and within a UK-wide consortium, so the demonstrated ability to work as member of a team is essential.

The researcher’s responsibilities will include: developing models of communication networks to understand their dynamic behaviour, detect and predict disruptions in network operations and develop techniques to improve network resilience against disruptions. The appointed researcher will be expected to build on the approach that has been developed in the project so far, and potentially bring new approaches to address the problem. In particular, the current approaches bring together techniques based on network science, graph signal processing and game theory. Familiarity and experience in these areas will be advantageous for the applicant. The researcher will engage with key stakeholders in Boeing on a regular basis. The appointed candidate must be comfortable with explaining their research in a practical and application-oriented manner. The researcher will be working with stakeholders in Boeing in defining the problem(s), identifying possible paths for solution development and developing decision-support tools. The researcher will be expected to produce high-quality publications for presentation at academic and industrial conferences in addition to the top journals in the field.

An exciting new position has arisen in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences for a research assistant in Professor Franklin Aigbirhio’s research group. The postholder will support the scheduling and production of short-lived positron emitting radioisotopes as well as manufacture radiopharmaceuticals tailored to the needs of the researchers at MICL and their research collaborators. The appointee will also work closely with staff in the Radiopharmaceutical Unit (RPU).

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in Italian History and Memory Studies, to work in the Italian Section, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, on the research project ‘Escape, Community, Resistance, Memory. Italian populations and Allied prisoners of war’.

The post is fixed term for 30 months, full-time, to start 1 October 2024 or 1 January 2025. Requests for flexible working will be considered.

‘Escape, Community, Resistance, Memory’ is a research project funded by a grant from the Monte San Martino (MSM) Trust. The MSM Trust is registered charity (no. 1113897; https://msmtrust.org.uk/) set up to celebrate and commemorate Italian civilians and communities who helped Allied prisoners of war during World War Two. In 2024, the Trust entered into an agreement to transfer the holdings of its historical archive to the Cambridge University Library.

We are looking for a full-time Research Assistant working closely with Dr Fengtong Ji in Dr Fengzhu Xiong’s lab at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. The successful candidate will be involved in studies of cell dynamics and tissue morphogenesis during embryo development using nano-engineering, cellular and molecular approaches.

Cell-type transition and tissue property changes widely exist in the development of normal and malignant tissues. Using chick embryo as the model system, we are investigating the mechanical cues regulating tissue organisation and developing innovative nanorobotic tools to explore the fundamental mechanisms through our unique homemade devices, in addition to ample resources from the core facilities at Gurdon Institute and other departments at Cambridge.

This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious researcher to join an internationally renowned research Unit and a team carrying out high profile work at the cutting edge of development and application of Bayesian methods to infectious disease epidemiology.

The post-holder will be part of Professor De Angelis’ team within the Population Health Theme at the MRC Biostatistics Unit (MRC-BSU). The project, funded by a Wellcome Discovery award in collaboration with the Universities of Oxford and Manchester and the UK Health Security Agency, aims to develop new methods to understand community transmission of respiratory infections using data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS).

The project is in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge and the UK Health Protection Agency (UKHSA), and aims to investigate use of machine learning for prediction of infectious diseases outbreaks. Using data from routine surveillance of respiratory infections in the first instance, the postholder will explore different approaches to blending existing ordinary differential equation-based mechanistic infectious disease models with modern deep learning approaches to develop predictive models of relevant epidemic data. Challenges include the relative scarcity of relevant training data, characteristic of epidemics, and the need to appropriately quantify uncertainty in the predictions.

We are looking for a full-time Research Associate to work closely with Dr Sanne van Neerven in Ben Simon’s lab at the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. The Simons lab is co-located in the Gurdon Institute, a centre of developmental biology and cancer research in Cambridge, and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. The Institute provides a stimulating environment that promotes collaborative and interdisciplinary research. Its postdoc association encourages scientific and social interactions and provides career development and teaching opportunities.

The successful candidate will have a strong background in epithelial biology with a keen interest and aptitude for work on the mouse intestinal, skin or oesophageal epithelium, with experience in the manipulation, characterisation, and confocal imaging of epithelial tissues. Further experience in the collection and analysis of the single-cell RNA-seq data, the manipulation of mouse and/or human organoid culture systems, and/or clonal lineage tracing will be highly beneficial. You should have a PhD in a relevant subject or expect to obtain one shortly, a sound understanding of molecular biology and a strong publication track-record in cell biology. You will be expected to be able to work independently and interact well in a dynamic multidisciplinary environment.

This research will build upon and expand on our research in Marchantia liverworts and vascular plants. As the successful candidate you will study Marchantia-microbe interactions and compare to processes in vascular plants. You will explore tissue and developmental context specific mechanisms and the underlying plant proteins to study the phenotypic consequences for plant microbe interactions and plant development. You will receive horticultural/technical assistance and will be able to collaborate with postdocs studying other aspects of plant-microbe interactions, plant cell biology and plant development. You will also benefit from established colonisation and imaging protocols, transgenic microbial and plant lines expressing reporter proteins.

We are seeking an ambitious and talented postdoctoral research associate to join our team at the CRUK Cambridge Institute (part of the University of Cambridge) to use comparative genomics to study the role of codon usage bias in gene regulation. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to our goal of understanding gene regulation and genome organisation on an evolutionary timescale.

We are seeking to recruit an energetic and well organised person to manage a busy Wellcome Trust funded laboratory and facilitate ongoing research projects within the group. The research group is part of the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. The laboratory works on the molecular mechanisms that control killing by cytotoxic T lymphocytes – important cells of the immune system that kill virally infected and cancer cells. Our research combines cell biology and immunology, using genetic approaches including CRISPR and single cell RNA sequencing of primary lymphocytes, together with high-resolution imaging.

The post, funded by an industrial contract with Shionogi, is based in the CLiC (Cambridge Laboratory for research on impulsive and compulsive disorders) directed by Professor David Belin at the Department of Psychology of the University of Cambridge.

The successful candidate will join a highly active research group in which they will take part in a programme of research that aims to establish the therapeutic potential (and underlying mechanism of action) of two new small molecules for the treatment of drug (heroin, cocaine, alcohol) use disorder.

The successful applicant will work alongside a post-doctoral researcher and a PhD student with whom they will carry out longitudinal studies using innovative behavioural procedures combined with pharmacology, molecular biology and circuit neuroscience techniques.

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral Research Associate in Energy Innovation, Economics and Policy to support a research project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (USA). The three-year project is entitled ‘Designing Public Institutions for Commercializing New Clean Energy Technologies’ and is focused on identifying and classifying institutional characteristics or models, of public programs effective at clean energy technology commercialization in the United States.

This project is joint between the Center for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG) at the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, and the Energy & Environment Policy Lab at the University of Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. The Cambridge PI is Professor Laura Diaz Anadon, Professor of Climate Change Policy at the University of Cambridge, Fellow at C-EENRG and Research Associate at the Belfer Center of Harvard University and the UC Berkeley PI is Professor Jonas Meckling, Director of the Policy Lab and Climate Fellow at Harvard Business School.

A position exists, for a Research Assistant/Associate in the Department of Engineering, to work on a research grant that looks to advance our understanding of embodied carbon and design in the built environment. This role will see the successful candidate working with Professor Orr to advance research in the field of construction and structural engineering. The post will focus on efforts to reduce whole life embodied carbon of built assets. The work undertaken will build on Professor Orr’s previous grants, in particular “MEICON” (www.meicon.net).

We invite applications for a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to join our team at the University of Cambridge. The post holder will join the recently established Cambridge Complex and Multihazard research group (CoMHaz) and be employed across the departments of Earth Sciences and Geography. There will be excellent opportunities for collaboration both within the university and with international partners.

Research Project: Landslides are one of the most damaging natural hazards, causing several thousand deaths each year, destroying critical infrastructure and inhibiting development. The multiplicity of triggers and vast areas susceptible to landsliding makes their forecasting a complex yet critical task. Satellite-based slope monitoring and landslide identification is one of the few plausible approaches to regional or national-scale landslide early warning.

A creative postdoctoral researcher with experimental or computational expertise is sought to work in Mark Howarth’s group on a project funded by MRC at Cambridge University Department of Pharmacology. The Howarth group have broad interests, including synthetic biology, biotechnology and entrepreneurship (www.howarthgroup.org). The project relates to engineering a protein superglue to enhance cell therapy of cancer. SpyTag is a genetically-encoded peptide created by the Howarth lab, which forms an irreversible covalent bond to its protein partner SpyCatcher. SpyTag provides a unique resource for molecular assembly and has been applied by >1,000 groups around the world for basic research and biotech, as well as reaching clinical trials. This project will devise a new generation of Tag/Catchers that are camouflaged to the immune system, so are much more potent for therapeutics. Collaborating with Imperial College London, we will apply this new protein superglue to overcome major barriers to cost-effective and potent CAR-T cell therapy against lymphoma. This technology will also be a powerful advance for antibody, gene therapy and vaccine approaches under development by the group.

A position exists for a “Post Doctoral Research Associate” in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics funded by a grant held by Prof. Ailsa Keating.

Applicants should have a PhD in a relevant field, a strong research track record, and may have previous postdoc experience. Candidates should have expertise in at least one of the following: symplectic geometry, mirror symmetry, singularity theory, geometric group theory; or have training in the parts of algebraic geometry/representation theory related to Bridgeland stability conditions, cluster algebras and quivers.

The key responsibilities and duties are:

• Explore alternative ML models for hydrological prediction, focusing on large river basins in Africa, Asia and South America
• Assemble and harmonize large sets of hydro-climatic data
• Contribute to research proposals and writing bids for research grants
• Write peer reviewed academic publications of the highest standards of significance and impact
• Supervise less experienced researchers and PhD students
• Develop skills and networks to become a successful independent researcher, including through grant writing, independent papers, consulting, trainings.

The McDonald Institute invites applications for the third annual Fellowship in archaeology (broadly defined) aimed at candidates of Black Identity or Heritage. The McDonald Institute aims to nurture excellence in the discipline of archaeology regardless of background and in pursuit of diverse knowledges, approaches and practices. We recognise that persistent structural inequalities disadvantage people from Black backgrounds and communities, including within higher education and academic research. As such, we are keen to enable underrepresented early career researchers of Black Identity or Heritage to develop their portfolio of research experience and to thrive in academia. This one-year postdoctoral Fellowship is designed to attract research excellence and we will provide the Fellows with training, mentorship and support to drive their careers forward and to generate a more diverse pipeline of future talent. In addition to salary, the Fellow will be entitled to up to £2,500 relocation costs and £5,000 training and research costs. The Fellow will also have the opportunity to apply through open competition for up to £5,000 p.a. from the D.M. McDonald Grants and Awards Fund for each of three years subsequent to the Fellowship and will be eligible for up to £2,500 expenses for one subsequent return visit to Cambridge. The successful candidate will also be eligible to take up a College Post- Doctoral Associate Position at Jesus College for the year of their appointment.

Applications are sought for a post-doctoral researcher to work with Professor Stuart Clarke on the development of novel oxygen evolution catalysts. The work is mainly experimental.

Experience in materials preparation, characterisation and electrochemical exploitation is essential. Experience with novel, non-traditional Oxygen Evolution Reaction materials and their preparation would be an advantage. Background knowledge of these materials would be desirable.

The purpose of this role is to contribute to the development of telecoms standards (wired and/or wireless), such as those established by 3GPP and IEEE. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in telecommunications research, with a particular emphasis on 3GPP and IEEE standards. This role is crucial in shaping the future of telecommunication standards, ensuring that the research outputs from the Federated Telecoms Hubs are effectively presented in global standardisation forums, and recent trends in those standardisation forums are reported back to Federated Hubs Researchers.

The Research Assistant/Associate will join the Integrated Quantum Photonics group, based in the Nanoscience Centre at the University of Cambridge, a research group that works on simulation, nanofabrication and optical characterisation of nano- and quantum photonic devices, integrating quantum light emitters.

They will work on a research project focused on the investigation of the optical properties of photosynthetic light harvesters on a chip, with the aim of unveiling quantum effects and reverse-engineer them for light harvesting and quantum technology applications. This interdisciplinary project combines the spectroscopy of biomolecules and quantum optics experiments with nanofabricated photonic devices, engineered to increase the light-matter interaction and enhance the collection efficiency.

Applications are invited for a Research Associate to join the Prorok Laboratory in the Department of Computer Science and Technology, at the University of Cambridge, UK.

The Prorok Laboratory has a variety of robotic platforms (aerial and ground), and boasts expertise in controlling and deploying them in practice, as well as in designing coordination strategies. Our recent work on ML-based co-optimization demonstrates some of our key research directions relevant for this position.

The role holder will work together with a team of students and research collaborators on the development of learning-based discovery of robot task/environment designs that are conducive to successful completion of the problem at hand. Particular focus will be on multi-robot and multi-agent problems (e.g., navigation, cooperative transport, team-based agent games). There will also be opportunities to contribute to international collaborative projects with other universities as well as industry.

We are looking for a talented clinician to join a multidisciplinary team of clinical and basic scientists investigating the drivers of cancer cachexia.

This post represents an excellent opportunity for a medically qualified trainee (oncology, endocrinology or metabolism) to play a key role in undertaking human based studies, including detailed analysis of food intake and energy expenditure in a naturalistic setting.

There will also be opportunity to be involved in molecular and immunological laboratory analysis related to this project.

The team includes oncologists, endocrinologists and psychiatrists looking to focus their established experience in understanding disorders of body weight onto the problem of weight loss in cancer.

Applications are invited for a 36-month Research Assistant position on The Prison Consensus Project, a research effort funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This project is concerned with the exponential construction of prisons in Brazil, who benefits, what implications there are for political and social life, and how prisons are justified amidst widespread recognition that they create social problems rather than solve them. The project will be carried out by an integrated team of researchers (PI, Co-I, Research Assistant and Research Assistant), with the Research Assistant playing a crucial role in desk-based gathering and analysis of information, as well as in project management.

We are looking for a statistical geneticist to join the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit (CEU), Department of Public Health and Primary Care at University of Cambridge.

The postholder will be developing novel statistical methodologies that enable translational and clinical application of genetic risk models. The exact project will be designed based on your research interest and the translational/clinical need proposed by our clinical collaborators. You will be working on genomic, molecular (transcriptomics, proteomic, and metabolomics), and electronic health record data, empowered by and contributing to multiple resources developed and maintained by the team (e.g. PGS Catalog, Omicspred).

Two Research Assistant/Associates are sought to work on a new 3-year EPSRC project, Towards compact and efficient nuclear reactors. This project seeks to develop low loss tapes suitable for use in tokomaks. The RAs will work in the CAPE building which is part of the Electrical Engineering Division of the University of Cambridge.

The role of the RAs in the project is to help develop the PSALM low loss tape system. The project will address numerous unexplored challenges in creating tapes suitable for use in fusion reactors at high currents and under AC conditions. The culmination of the project will be a fully developed low loss tape. Broadly one of the RAs will develop the tape patterning techniques, the other will be responsible for the analysis of the behaviour and expected behaviour of the resultant tapes.

A position exists, for a Research Assistant/Associate in the Department of Engineering, to work on aperiodic quantum photonic devices.

The Research Assistant/Associate will join the Integrated Quantum Photonics group, based in the Nanoscience Centre at the University of Cambridge, a newly founded research group that works on simulation, nanofabrication and optical characterisation of nano- and quantum photonic devices, integrating quantum light emitters.