Job description

Job summary

Applications are invited for a Research Associate position to Dr. Theodoros Karamanos’ group in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London to carry out structural and functional studies on HSP chaperones. These highly dynamic protein complexes are responsible for modulating many polymerisation reactions in the cell and are responsible for various human pathologies. The aim of the planned project is the structural and mechanistic investigation of these proteins and their complexes with substrates. This is an integrative project that applies biophysical techniques and computational analysis to understand how molecular chaperones protect the cell against aggregation and neurodegeneration.

Duties and responsibilities

Your role will be to execute and develop an innovative and challenging research programme that is funded by Wellcome Trust and Royal Society, UK. You will have primary responsibility for the project work and contribute to the general smooth running of the laboratory. You will also be expected to take active part in training and supervision of staff and students. In-house access to modern high field NMR spectrometers, ideally suited for solution NMR studies of large biomolecules is available at the Imperial College NMR Centre, part of the Centre for Structural Biology.

Essential requirements

You must have a PhD (or equivalent) in Structural biology, Physical Chemistry, Biochemistry or equivalent and experience in biomolecular NMR spectroscopy preferably demonstrated by first author publications in international journals. Practical knowledge and experience in protein expression and purification is essential. Proficiency in programming and computational tools is of advantage.

You also must have excellent verbal and written communication skills for publications, reports and talks. You must have a creative and proactive approach to problem-solving, prioritise your work in response to deadlines and be able to work both independently as well as a part of a team. Self-motivation, willingness and ability to work as a team are essential.

Further information

This is a full time, fixed position for 3 years, with possibility to extend up to 5 years subject to funding. You will be based at South Kensington Campus.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £38,194 - £41,388 per annum.

Informal enquires can be made directly to Dr. Theo Karamanos, at t.karamanos@imperial.ac.uk.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes which are ultimately aimed towards finding new treatments and making scientific and medical advances, and where there are no satisfactory or reasonably practical alternatives to their use. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. Find out more about animal research at Imperial.

Documents

• Job Description Research Associate.pdf