PDRA in Metabolomics and Marine Biotechnology

1000scholars; Oban; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

SAMS is seeking a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Metabolomics and Marine Biotechnology to join a dynamic team at Oban. The role focuses on up‑cycling marine waste streams into high‑value metabolites, developing novel cultivation strategies for marine protists, and applying proteomics to study extracellular enzymes.

Eligible candidates will have a PhD in metabolomics, lipidomics and/or fermentation, with experience in marine cultivation and bioreactor scaling to 10 L.

Qualifications

• PhD in metabolomics, lipidomics and/or fermentation.
• Experience cultivating marine organisms and scaling production up to 10 L bioreactor scale.
• Experience using HPLC, GC‑MS and GC‑FID in research.
• Interest in synthetic biology and bioinformatics is helpful.
• Ability to write and present reports and publish cutting‑edge science.

Responsibilities

• Develop novel cultivation strategies for marine heterotrophic protists on different waste streams.
• Optimise growth and metabolite production.
• Use proteomics to analyse extracellular enzyme composition of marine protists.
• Potentially use genomic data to reverse‑engineer cultivation media design.
• Contribute to teaching and SAMS undergraduate/postgraduate programmes.

Skills

Metabolomics

Lipidomics

Fermentation

Biotechnology

Bioinformatics

Synthetic biology

Education

PhD in metabolomics, lipidomics and/or fermentation

Tools

HPLC

GC-MS

GC-FID

Job description

PDRA in Metabolomics and Marine Biotechnology

Location: SAMS, Oban

Contract Type: Fixed Term; 2.5 years

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.

This post is available for UK sponsorship where candidates hold a relevant PhD qualification.

£32,546 to £34,132 per annum