Postdoctoral Research Associate in computational protein engineering

Grade UE07: £40,497 - £48,149 per annum

College of Science and Engineering/School of Biological Sciences/Institute of Quantitative Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Fixed-term: 12 months

 

The Opportunity:

 

We are looking for exceptionally talented and motivated computational scientist to take up a fully funded position as Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in computational protein engineering with Prof Giovanni Stracquadanio and in collaboration with OccamBio Ltd.

 

We are an interdisciplinary group based at the School of Biological Sciences interested in addressing challenges in healthcare and biotechnology (www.stracquadaniolab.org). Our goal is to reverse engineer biological systems in physiological and pathological state, to learn the rules for rapidly and efficiently engineering new therapies. To do that, we use the most disruptive technologies of the last 20-years: machine learning and synthetic biology. 

Our team is highly interdisciplinary, including mathematicians, biologists, and biochemists, enjoys a fast-paced collaborative working environment and aims at continuously improving our strong publications and funding track record.

We routinely engage with industrial stakeholders, and we have ongoing collaborations with Fujifilm Diosynth, Opentrons, Lonza and Neochromsome.

 

In collaboration with OccamBio Ltd, we aim at designing deep learning models to engineer thermostable growth factor proteins to make cultivated meat sustainable; to do that, we will use public available data and state-of-the-art protein language models. Our group is strongly committed to open and reproducible science; thus, we strive to deliver our models as user-friendly software packages to maximise their adoption by the scientific and industrial community.

 

Your skills and attributes for success: 

• Strong track record in deep learning applied to protein engineering, preferably language models.
• Strong track record in biological data analysis.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Strong planning and management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

 

Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab). 

 

Application Information  

 

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

- CV

- Cover letter

 

As a valued member of our team you can expect: 

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. 
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits. 

 

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality. 

 

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab).

The University is able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role.  If successful, an international applicant requiring sponsorship to work in the UK will need to satisfy the UK Home Office’s English Language requirements and apply for and secure a Skilled Worker Visa.  

 

Key dates to note

 Closing date: 22nd April 2025. 

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone. 

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