Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Plant Bioengineering

MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences; Greater London; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 49,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research institute in Greater London seeks a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Plant Bioengineering. This role involves exploring plant responses and development through synthetic biology, requiring expertise in plant tissue culture and transformation. Ideal candidates should have a PhD and a first-author publication in plant biology. Benefits include a defined pension scheme, generous holiday entitlement, and family-friendly policies. Full details available on the application page, with a closing date of 1 March 2026.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension scheme

30 days holiday plus bank holidays

Family-friendly policies

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent experience required.
• One first-author publication on plant biology in a peer-reviewed journal is essential.
• Experience in plant tissue culture and plant transformation is critical.

Responsibilities

• Join the team as a Plant Bioengineer focused on synthetic biology.
• Understand and design plant responses and development.
• Contribute to projects aiming to create plants with designer traits.

Skills

Plant tissue culture

Plant transformation

Programming skills

DNA design and assembly

Education

PhD or equivalent experience

Job description

MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Plant Bioengineering

Salary: £42,694 plus London allowances £5,560 per annum*

Fixed term (3 Years)

London, UK

About us

The MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) is a biomedical research institute where scientists and clinicians collaborate to advance the understanding of biology and its application to medicine. LMS is one of three directly funded MRC research institutes and enjoy close links with our partners at Imperial College London and at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

About the role

Are you an experienced Plant Biologist? Sarkisyan lab is looking for a postdoctoral scientist to join the team as a Plant Bioengineer. We are a team of six based at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences. We love seeing our work going all the way from basic science discoveries to real‑life technology or a product. We are interested in understanding how to design plant responses and development, and in the next three years we aim to progress towards creating plants with various designer traits. In the last several years, we mainly worked on engineering bioluminescence in plants (https://light.bio/), and understanding structure‑function relationship in proteins (https://www.nature.com/articles/nature17995). Our current focus is on applying synthetic biology to design plants with agricultural and aesthetic applications.

About You

You will need a PhD (or equivalent experience) and be a highly motivated and skilled individual with experience with plant tissue culture and plant transformation. You are expected to have one first‑author publication on plant biology in a peer‑reviewed journal. Programming skills and experience in DNA design and assembly are desirable.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement (30 days plus 2.5 privilege days & 8 bank holidays), family friendly policies (6 months full pay maternity & adoption leave), a range of shopping/travel discounts, access to our Employee Assistant Programme Scheme, Health and Wellbeing Support and a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. Please follow this link to find out more - Benefits

How to apply

For full details of this post and to complete an online application, visit https://mrc.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/appcentre-1/candidate/postings/3097 and upload your CV, names and contacts of two scientific references along with a cover letter stating why you are applying for this role (providing evidence against the requirements of the job as per the job description and person specification). Applications without a cover letter will not be accepted.

Please quote reference number LMS 2770

*Additional allowances comprise a £1,000 lump sum Settlement Allowance plus a yearly Training Allowance of £850 in the first year, paid in monthly instalments. The Training Allowance increases to £1,300 in year two and £1,800 in the third year.

This role qualifies for endorsement by UKRI for a UK Global Talent Visa, for which the successful applicant is likely to be eligible to apply. We will also reimburse the cost of visa application (terms and conditions apply).

Closing date: 1 March 2026.

Final appointment will be subject to pre‑employment screening

Please note that applications may be reviewed by both LMS and Imperial staff