PDRA in Metabolomics and Marine Biotechnology

The Scottish Association for Marine Science; Oban; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible & hybrid working options

Purchase of additional annual leave

Pensions Plus

Free car parking with charging points

Training & development courses

Job summary

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban is inviting applications for a fixed-term Post-Doctoral Researcher as part of the MaMaCas project. You will help develop biotechnological solutions to convert marine waste streams into high-value metabolites and products, focusing on novel cultivation strategies and proteomic analyses.

You will collaborate with EU partners, travel for meetings, contribute to reports and publications, and may support teaching on SAMS degree programmes.

Qualifications

• PhD related to metabolomics, lipidomics and/or fermentation.
• Experience cultivating marine organisms and scaling to 10 L bioreactor scale.
• Experience with HPLC, GC-MS and GC-FID in research.
• Interest in synthetic biology and bioinformatics will be helpful.

Responsibilities

• Develop cultivation strategies for marine heterotrophic protists on waste streams.
• Use proteomics to analyse extracellular enzyme composition of marine protists.
• Possibly use genomic data to reverse-engineer cultivation media design.
• Contribute to teaching on SAMS degree programmes.

Skills

Synthetic biology

Bioinformatics

Report writing

Education

PhD in metabolomics/lipidomics/fermentation

Tools

HPLC

GC-MS

GC-FID

Job description

Location

SAMS, Oban

Contract Type

Fixed Term : 2.5 years

Working Pattern

Full Time

Salary

£32,546 - £34,132 per annum

Closing date

Monday 12th October 2026

The Role

The successful candidate will join a dynamic marine biotechnology team focused on the 'up-cycling' of marine waste streams into high value metabolites and products (such as lipids and pigments). This research will focus on developing novel cultivation strategies for marine heterotrophic protists grown on different waste streams, optimising growth and metabolite production. Additionally, the role will use proteomics to analyse the extracellular enzyme composition of the different marine protists and may use genomic data to 'reverse-engineer' cultivation media design. The candidate will be working at SAMS as part of the three-partner "Marine Mass Cascade" (MaMaCas) project funded as part of the Green ERA-HUB "Sustainable Production and Utilisation of Biomass" call. Consequently, it is expected that the candidate will be available to travel to EU partners for project meetings. The candidate should be comfortable writing and presenting reports, with an ambition to publish their cutting‑edge science. The candidate will also have a wider role helping deliver marine microbiology and biotechnology research at SAMS and contribute to a vibrant laboratory environment. Finally, depending on the candidates' interests, the post holder may contribute to teaching on the SAMS undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

Our Ideal Candidate

We are looking for a motivated Post-Doctoral Researcher with an enthusiasm for developing biotechnological solutions to problems. A PhD related to metabolomics, lipidomics and/or fermentation is essential. It is desirable for you to have demonstratable experience cultivating marine organisms and scaling production up to 10 L bioreactor scale, and/or direct experience using HPLC, GC-MS and GC-FID in your research. An interest in synthetic biology and bioinformatics will be helpful. You should be comfortable working in the laboratory, and able to work collaboratively as part of a small research team.

Employee Benefits

Our relatively small, caring community is an ideal environment for making friends, forming collaborations, and supporting each other to do the work that we really care about. Oban and surrounding areas provide a fantastic base to live and work, and we offer a wide range of employee benefits, support and inclusive culture, making SAMS a great place to work.

We are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, offering options to best support our staff, such as:

• flexible & hybrid working options
• purchase of additional annual leave
• shopping discounts
• Cycle 2 Work scheme
• purchases of technology through salary sacrifice
• Payroll Giving
• Pensions Plus
• access to portals to support health and wellbeing
• a sabbatical scheme
• free car parking with access to electronic charging points as well as access to a number of training & development courses

Applicant Support & Guidance

We are a Disability Confident Employer. Where a candidate requires reasonable adjustments as part of the application process, we encourage you to let us know. Where applicants with a disability meet the essential criteria for the job, you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your skills, talent and abilities at interview.

SAMS' commitment to gender equality has been recognised, as our institute was presented with an Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) Bronze Award and is currently working towards Investors in Diversity accreditation.

SAMS follows Fair Work Practices.

SAMS Group is committed to being an equal and open organisation. Diversity and inclusion are important to us, and we strive to remove any barriers that may prevent people from applying to join us. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, and from all who share our values and can help us to broaden our knowledge and range of ideas.