Postdoctoral Fellowship (15) at University of Manchester, England

The Hepworth laboratory within the Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation at the University of Manchester wish to appoint a laboratory-based Research Associate to an exciting project in mucosal immunology and innate lymphoid cell (ILC) biology.

The successful candidate will undertake Postdoctoral activities in the areas of Mucosal Immunology, and related cross-disciplinary research. This would be expected to include independently performing experiments utilizing transgenic animal models and the downstream isolation and analysis of immune cells using a variety of techniques including, but not limited to, flow cytometry, ELISA, RT-PCR, bulk and single cell RNA sequencing, imaging and other emerging technologies – including aspects of informatics and data analysis.

The PDRA would be expected to work alongside the PI to conceptualize studies and design experiments and to work towards the publication of their findings in appropriate journals. Moreover, the role involves contributing to the team science by supporting other lab members and undergraduate trainees intellectually and practically – and through collaborative work with internal and external collaborators.

The University of Manchester has been awarded funding to establish the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC). Our PSRC will be one of six new collaborations nationally and will, with our university partners in Leicester and Nottingham, address strategic patient safety challenges by developing and testing innovations, approaches, and interventions to improve patient safety. Working in partnership with patients, carers, health and care professionals, the GM PSRC will focus on the following innovative research themes:

1. Improving Medication Safety
2. Enhancing Cultures of Safety
3. Developing Safer Health and Care Systems
4. Preventing Suicide and Self-harm

The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (JBCA) invites applications for two Research Associates in cosmology. Both positions will be focused on the combination of the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and the Simons Observatory (SO), two surveys the JBCA is heavily involved in. One post will be centered on developing simulation-based inference methods for the joint analysis of galaxy cluster number counts from SO and Weak Lensing from LSST, and the application of these methods to early data from both surveys. The second post will be focused on the combination of galaxy clustering and CMB lensing power- and bispectra to constrain primordial non-Gaussianity from a joint analysis of SO and LSST.

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position to work on the properties and evolution of distant galaxies through cosmic time, with a focus on utilizing data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Euclid Space Telescope. The successful applicant will work with new general observing and guaranteed time observations (GTO) JWST data through imaging with NIRCam and spectroscopy through NIRISS and NIRSpec. With JWST’s large aperture, red wavelengths and extreme depth capabilities, combined with Euclid data for shallower yet wider studies, the postdoc hired in this position will use these data to answer the most fundamental questions concerning the process of the earliest galaxy formation and its relationship to reionization.

We wish to appoint an enthusiastic and motivated scientist to work on the UKRI funded exotic isotope production for medical applications project led by Dr Thomas Day Goodacre. The research activity will be based in the new RIS² laboratory at the University of Manchester’s Photon Science Institute.

The successful candidate will lead the development, installation and commissioning of an ion source test stand which will extract ion beams at 2 kV and inject them into a commercial quadrupole mass spectrometer. In addition to this, they will undertake and coordinate an ion source development campaign to optimise ion sources for the production of research quantities of novel medical isotopes.

The project will be accomplished in close collaboration with the PI and post graduate research students in the group. The role requires hands on experimental experience with ion sources, ion beam transport, vacuum and high voltage (<60 kV) systems. A theoretical understanding of such devices is also necessary, together with the ability to use software relevant to ion source and ion beam transport simulations. Travel to the external collaborators and beyond is expected.

We wish to appoint a talented, enthusiastic and self-motivated researcher with mixed methods/qualitative research skills to provide maternity cover on an NIHR-funded research grant in the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, based at The University of Manchester.

You will need excellent skills in mixed methods and/or qualitative research methods developed in health or social care settings and a keen interest and/or experience in digital health technologies research.

This position offers the opportunity to contribute to the development and feasibility evaluation of a Virtual Reality (VR) risk reduction training programme focussing on hand hygiene and falls prevention for care home staff, alongside an implementation toolkit.

The successful candidate will work with the project team to develop an initial VR risk reduction training programme and implementation toolkit, using user-centred design approaches. The project is using a phased, mixed-methods approach to develop the training programme and toolkit, and conduct a pilot cluster RCT to inform a subsequent RCT. The researcher will have day to day responsibility for the organisation and management of the initial phases of the project, including developing protocols for ethical review, conducting interviews with VR companies and care home staff, assisting with the initial piloting of the VR training and working closely with our PCIE group of care home stakeholders.

We are seeking a highly motivated AI researcher to join the British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence (BHF CRE) at the University of Manchester. The position will be based within the National Centre for Text Mining (NaCTeM), a leading UK research hub for biomedical text mining and natural language processing, and forms part of the BHF CRE.

This position focuses on advancing large language models (LLMs) and natural language understanding for biomedical and clinical applications, with particular emphasis on cardiovascular research and translational healthcare innovation.

You will play a central role in the development and adaptation of the next generation of biomedical foundation models, large-scale, domain-aware LLMs capable of reasoning across biomedical literature, clinical narratives, and structured patient data. Working alongside leading clinicians, biomedical scientists, and AI researchers, you’ll help design intelligent systems that can accelerate discovery, improve clinical decision support, and enable more transparent, trustworthy biomedical AI.

H-transfer reactions involving hydride, hydrogen atom or proton transfers are ubiquitous in enzyme-catalysed reactions. It is now well established that these reactions can occur via a mechanism involving some degree of quantum mechanical tunnelling (QMT), and thus are a feature of quantum biology. The QMT contribution is highly variable and an open question remains whether there has been evolutionary pressure to select for QMT during enzyme catalysis. In this project we aim to combine experimental studies of H-tunnelling in enzyme catalysed reactions with directed (laboratory) evolution (DE) to provide new insight into the role of QMT during (artificial) evolution of H-transfer enzymes. Further, as efficient routes to selective deuteration of pharmaceuticals is currently a hot topic, and many industrially-important enzymes catalyse H-transfers, the methodology also promises to lead to a new approach to enzyme optimisation for applications in synthesis and industrial biocatalysis.

This post-doctoral position is based in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) and Department of Chemistry at the University of Manchester and aims to map QMT contributions to enzyme reactions along artificial enzyme evolutionary trajectories. This approach will involve the development and use of laboratory DE strategies, advanced enzyme kinetics, kinetic isotope effect (KIE) measurements and structural biology. The successful applicant will work in the research groups of Profs Sam Hay and Anthony Green, which are currently funded by the BBSRC, EPSRC, ERC and other sources, and are well-equipped for a full range of computational, molecular and biophysical techniques.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Prof Neil Dixon based in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. The position is available for up to 60 months, initially 36 months) and is available from the 1st December 2025. This specific role will seek to convert low-value waste-derived feedstocks into value-added chemicials including monomers (diols, dicaids etc), bio-based solvents and aroma chemicals. Key to the success of the engineering biology approaches, is the ability to sense and regulate the associated molecules and genes/pathways. This post will develop genetic tools, based on allosteric transcription factors and to employ these tools to fine tune the expression/metabolic flux in suitable production host. In particular, tools for sensing intermediates and controlling gene expression are essential for developing a mature synthetic biology platform. You should be capable of working under your own initiative and within a research team, so excellent communication and organisational skills are required. Applicants should have, or be about to obtain, a PhD in Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Molecular Microbiology, Metabolic Engineering (or closely related field). This project would suit individuals interested in microbial biotechnology, and the sustainable bioeconomy.

We are seeking a highly motivated and talented scientist to join our MRC-funded research programme investigating how disruption of the circadian clock impacts energy metabolism and contributes to metabolic disease. You will play a key role in defining how circadian processes in the liver and other tissues regulate lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function, under both normal and perturbed conditions (e.g. dietary or environmental challenges). This exciting project builds on our recent findings (e.g. Downton et al., PNAS; Hayter et al., Nature Communications; West et al., Nature Communications), which demonstrate that circadian disruption—caused by simulated shift work, diet-induced obesity, or chronic inflammation—leads to aberrant liver function and accumulation of harmful lipid species such as ceramides. Working within a vibrant circadian research community in Manchester, you will employ cutting-edge in vivo and in vitro models, advanced physiological phenotyping, and multi-omic and flux metabolomic approaches. You will also collaborate with leading partners at the Universities of Oxford and Aberdeen. You will have a PhD (or near completion) in a relevant biological or biomedical discipline, and bring experience in mammalian physiology, circadian biology, and/or energy metabolism, strong research experience, analytical and communication skills, and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary and collaborative research.

We are seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic Early Career Researcher with an interest in big data and genomics to join a pioneering project embedded within the Our Future Health initiative- the UK’s largest health research programme. This post creates a unique opportunity to work with the Our Future Health dataset, which includes genotypic, clinical and questionnaire data from over two million UK participants. The project will focus initially on investigating the genetic determinants of inflammatory conditions including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The successful candidate will receive training in big data handling, genomics, statistical analysis and the interpretation of outputs generated. They will also play an important role in developing an operational pathway to access and analyse the Our Future Health data resource and assess the dataset’s potential for large-scale genetic research, such as genome-wide association studies. Excellent programming skills are essential, along with a passion for collaborative, data-driven research that contributes to improving people’s health.