Research Assistant (109521-0824)

University of Warwick Campus, Coventry
Warwick Medical School - Biomedical Sciences
Fixed Term, Full Time
Ending 30 September 2026
£29,605 to £32,982 per annum

 For informal enquiries, please contact Anne Straube (Professor) at A.Straube@warwick.ac.uk. 

A Wellcome-funded Research Assistant post to provide technical support in an enthusiastic, well-established lab analysing the fundamental mechanisms of microtubule organisation and intracellular transport. Candidates are expected to have either a university degree in a relevant subject area (natural sciences, biochemistry, biophysics etc.), vocational training as a laboratory technician or equivalent research experience. The main responsibility of the post holder will be the purification of recombinant human proteins expressed in insect or mammalian cells for biochemical assays, quantitative data analysis and general laboratory support. Applicants should have a track record in protein engineering, expression, purification and characterisation using biophysical and biochemical experiments, as well as in more generic laboratory support and management, including re-ordering and stock control. Excellent proven manual skills and excellent proven record keeping skills and communication skills, including presentations skills are all essential.

We will consider applications for employment on a part-time or other flexible working basis, even where a position is advertised as full-time, unless there are operational or other objective reasons why it is not possible to do so.  

The post holder will be a member of the Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology and Warwick Medical School benefitting from an outstanding scientific environment and access to state-of-the-art research facilities. 

For further information regarding the skills required for this role please see the personal specification section of the attached job description.

You will join the laboratory of Professor Anne Straube in the Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology (https://mechanochemistry.org). The Straube lab aims to understand how microtubule arrays are organised and control the morphology of cells. In particular, we use live cell imaging, force measurements, quantitative image analysis tools and in vitro reconstitution experiments to understand the function of motor proteins in organising microtubules and transporting cargo.

We offer an outstanding environment for discovery science in one of the best universities in the UK. The Centre of Mechanochemical Cell Biology at the University of Warwick seeks to understand the principles of cellular self-organisation with a focus on mechanisms that enable cell duplication, movement and repair. The

centre is home to 20 principal investigators with backgrounds in cell biology, computer science and physics. It is housed in the purpose-built Mechanochemical Cell Biology building with state-of-the art imaging facilities.

The post holder will also join Warwick Biomedical Sciences  (BMS). BMS has a mission to advance world-class discovery science with an interdisciplinary approach to unravel the fundamental mechanisms of physiological and pathological processes, develop pioneering diagnostic and preventive technologies, and deliver ground-breaking treatments for a healthier future for all. Areas of research excellence focus on quantitative cell and developmental biology, host-pathogen interactions and human reproduction.

Born in the 60s with a mindset of boldness, imagination and collaboration, the University of Warwick is a world-leading research-intensive university with the highest academic and research standards. We’re one of the world’s top universities, ranked 67th in the world and 10th in the UK*, with 92% of our research assessed to be ‘world leading or internationally excellent’**. 

You'll be joining a diverse, innovative and globally connected community committed to igniting real world progress. Here at Warwick, we offer you opportunities to follow your ambitions as long as you bring the energy and determination to succeed.

*QS World University Rankings 2024

** Research Excellence Framework 2021

To find out more about us visit our website.

CLOSING DATE: Wednesday 04 September 2024 at 11.55pm

To apply, please click ‘Apply’ below and submit an application form by the closing date. Please plan for any potential delays as you will not be able to submit an application past this deadline (even if you opened the form at, say, 11.30pm).

Please attach a CV and cover letter.

  • Your CV should include your most recent employment experience, any other relevant experience, and education history.
  • Your cover letter must detail how you meet each of the essential criteria found in the Job Description document below (desirable criteria too, where possible).

Please see here for guidance on writing a cover letter. We highly recommend using individual criteria as headers and giving examples below, though you are free to format the letter as you wish.

To streamline our hiring processes, we can only accept applications via our official website, warwick-careers.tal.net.

Interview Date: TBC

Start Date: TBC

We will provide you with a great range of benefits, which include an attractive pension scheme, 26 days holiday plus Christmas closure, excellent learning and development opportunities, and savings on a wide range of products and services. We offer a generous maternity/paternity/adoption/parental leave policy, and onsite childcare facilities. 

We recognise the importance of a healthy work/life balance and offer you access to flexible working, for more information click here. 

We are proud to say that we are a Living Wage employer.

Warwick is committed to building an organisation of mutual respect and dignity, promoting a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive working and learning environment.  We recognise that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways, and that those differences are to be recognised, respected, and valued.  Where possible, we go beyond legislation to provide a place where everyone can thrive, supporting all staff to achieve their full potential. We aspire to remove economic, social, and cultural barriers that may otherwise prevent people from succeeding. 

We therefore welcome and encourage applications from all communities regardless of culture, background, age, disability, sex/gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion/belief, or sexual or romantic orientation. To find out more about our social inclusion work at Warwick visit our webpageshere. 

The University currently holds aRace Equality Charter Bronze Award, Athena Swan Sliver Awardand aDisability Smart Bronze Award. The University of Warwick is also one of the six founder institutions of theEUTOPIA European University Alliance. 

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)

The University of Warwick complies with the DBS Code of Practice and undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against anyone who makes a Disclosure relating to a conviction or other information revealed.  More information is available on the University’s Vacancy pages and applicants may request a copy of the DBS Code of Practice.

If you do not yet have the right to work in the UK and/or are seeking sponsorship for a Skilled Worker visa, please follow this link which contains further information about obtaining the right to work in the UK.

This opportunity is closed to applications.