Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Pellock Lab) - Generative Biology Institute

Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford; Oxford; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary: Competitive + travel allowance

Enhanced holiday pay

Pension

Life Assurance

Income Protection

Private Medical Insurance

Hospital Cash Plan

Therapy Services

Perk Box

Electric Car Scheme

Job summary

The Pellock Lab at the Generative Biology Institute (GBI) within the Ellison Institute of Technology in Oxford is seeking ambitious Postdoctoral Researchers to join our team. You will design, optimize, and characterize new enzymes to explore novel chemistry, develop sustainable processes, and advance materials discovery.

You will work with multidisciplinary teams, publish high-impact papers, mentor junior researchers, and contribute to translational opportunities aligned with EIT's mission while

Qualifications

• Completed a PhD in a relevant field (synthetic biology, computational biology, genomics).
• Track record of delivering ambitious research projects to a high standard.
• Strong track record in molecular biology, synthetic biology, or related fields.
• Experience with data analysis and interpretation; genomic analysis, automation, or computational tools desirable.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills; ability to work in multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments, developing novel methodologies.
• Analyse complex datasets using computational and statistical tools.
• Contribute intellectually to the research direction by identifying opportunities for innovation and refining research questions.
• Prepare and publish high-quality scientific papers, reports, and protocols.
• Present research at national and international conferences, seminars, and internal meetings.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams within GBI, EIT, and external partners to advance complementary workstreams.
• Build and maintain research infrastructure, laboratory capabilities, and cutting-edge technologies.
• Mentor and support junior researchers, including PhD students and research assistants.
• Translate research findings into commercial or translational opportunities in alignment with EIT's mission.
• Identify and pursue opportunities for intellectual property generation and protection.
• Ensure research activities comply with EIT's policies, legal requirements, and best scientific practice.

Skills

Data analysis

Independent working

Communication

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Problem solving

Education

PhD in synthetic biology / computational biology / genomics

Tools

Genomic analysis tools

Automation tools

Computational tools

Job description

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you'll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society.

Welcome to the Generative Biology Institute:

Led by Founding Director Jason Chin, the Generative Biology Institute (GBI) at the Ellison Institute of Technology is tackling the key challenges in making biology engineerable, and thereby unlocking the unrivalled power of biology for the benefit of humanity.

The vision of the GBI is to lay the foundations for engineering biology, and unlock its potential for good. To achieve this, we must overcome two key challenges. First, we need the ability to write in the natural language of biology, enabling the rapid and scalable synthesis of entire genomes with precision. Second, we must understand what to write - determining which DNA sequences will generate biological systems that perform the desired functions. Addressing these challenges will allow us to harness the full power of biology to create transformative solutions across health, agriculture, clean energy and more.

The Generative Biology Institute commenced operations in 2025, occupying newly renovated bespoke space in the Oxford Science Park. The team will later move to a purpose-made facility in the Oxford Science Park, currently under construction. Once complete, this state-of-the-art facility will include more than 40,000 m² of research laboratory and office space. It will house over 30 groups and up to 600 employees at scale, focused on solving the two critical challenges in making biology engineerable and applying the solutions to addressing the global challenges encapsulated in EIT's Humane Endeavours.

The Pellock Lab

We are seeking ambitious, creative, and highly skilled Postdoctoral Researchers to join the Pellock Lab at GBI. The Pellock Lab, led by Principal Investigator Sam Pellock, focuses on the design and characterization of new enzymes to explore new chemistry, develop sustainable approaches to process and build new materials, and to better understand how enzymes work.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments, including the development of novel methodologies and adaptation of existing techniques to new applications
• Analyse complex datasets using computational and statistical tools, interpreting results in the context of broader research goals
• Contribute intellectually to the research direction by identifying opportunities for innovation and refining research questions
• Prepare and publish high-quality scientific papers, reports, presentations, and protocols
• Present research at national and international conferences, seminars, and internal meetings
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams within GBI, EIT, and external partners to advance complementary workstreams
• Build and maintain research infrastructure, laboratory capabilities, and cutting-edge technologies
• Mentor and support junior researchers, including PhD students and research assistants
• Translate research findings into commercial or translational opportunities in alignment with EIT's mission
• Identify and pursue opportunities for intellectual property generation and protection
• Ensure research activities comply with EIT's policies, legal requirements, and best scientific practice

This list is not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to undertake additional tasks and duties commensurate with the role.

Requirements

Essential and Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Completed a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., synthetic biology, computational biology and AI, microbial, plant and human cell biology, genomics, robotics and automation, and nucleic acids chemistry.)
• Track record of delivering ambitious research projects to a high standard
• Strong track record in research, ideally in molecular biology, synthetic biology, or related fields
• Skilled in data analysis and interpretation; experience with genomic analysis, automation, or computational tools desirable
• Proven ability to work independently, think creatively, and solve complex experimental problems
• Experience publishing in high-impact journals and presenting at international conferences
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience collaborating in multidisciplinary teams
• Capacity to build and sustain productive collaborations internally and externally
• Resilience, adaptability, and enthusiasm for working in a fast-paced, high-growth research environment

Benefits

Our Benefits:

• Salary: Competitive + travel allowance + bonus
• Enhanced holiday pay
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electric Car Scheme

Working Together - What It Involves:

• You must be eligible to work in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. We are open to sponsoring employment visas for this role; however sponsorship is not available for all visa types or in all circumstances. Eligibility will be assessed on a case-by-case basis
• You must be based in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford. Or be wiling to relocate.
• During peak periods, some longer hours may be required and some working across multiple time zones due to the global nature of the programme
• This is a fixed term contract role