Research Assistant - Protein Biochemist & Physicist

We are seeking to appoint a Research Assistant, to become a key member of target-based project teams and will be working alongside experts in other technical disciplines, such as chemical biology, protein production or medicinal chemistry. Within this role, you will become proficient in several platforms and able to provide technical advice to students and colleagues within the Centre for Medicines Discovery and collaborating academic groups.

The CMD is a multi-disciplinary institute, with a mission to accelerate the translation of basic science into the discovery and development of novel medicines. The CMD is made up of several teams; Structural and Functional Biology; Technologies; Drug Discovery; and Research Informatics. Together these units drive several major collaborative initiatives, involving the CMD and other academic or industrial partners, as well as their own research programmes.

You will be responsible for developing cellular, biochemical and biophysical assays and optimising them for utilisation in high throughput screening campaigns and compound evaluation cascades. You will manage your own research on a number of projects and administrative activities, such as data entry into electronic lab notebooks, within guidelines provided by senior colleagues. You will be responsible for the use and management of specialist scientific equipment in a laboratory environment, such as the liquid handling equipment such as Echo robotic dispenser, plate readers (Pherastar, Hidex, FLIPR) and biophysical equipment (Biacore, Octet BLI, Prometheus, Rapid Fire MS, etc.). Other duties include gathering, analysing, and presenting scientific data from a variety of sources, and contributing to scientific reports and journal articles and the presentation of data/papers at conferences.

It is essential that you hold a degree in Biochemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemistry or Biology-related subjects, together with relevant laboratory experience. You will also have experience of establishing biochemical assays, in particular enzyme activity assays and protein-protein interactions, considering throughput, specificity and robustness of various approaches, and you will be able to manage your own research with an eye for detail and take responsibility for administrative activities such as management of lab reagent stock, lab book writing.

This position is offered full time on a fixed term contract until 1 July 2026 and is funded by the Department.