Senior Research Associate (Enzyme Biotechnology)

at  University of Portsmouth

DISCOVER THE ADVANTAGES OF JOINING OUR UNIVERSITY. WE OFFER A RANGE OF ATTRACTIVE BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Competitive salary, including incremental progression within your scale.
• Contributory defined benefits pension schemes – Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) for support and research staff and Teachers Pensions for our academic staff.
• Generous leave entitlement of 32–35 days a year, plus bank holidays, and an additional Christmas closure.
• Family-friendly policies supporting flexible working.
• Staff discounts and loyalty schemes.
• Staff car parking and discounted public travel.
• Excellent training and development opportunities.
• Staff wellbeing programmes.
• Long service awards and recognition awards, which are awarded to staff for exceptional performance.
• Recreation facilities, including discounted gym membership, food on campus schemes, use of the Library and staff social activities.
• Discounted learning.
• Start-up business mentoring from expert entrepreneurs via our Entrepreneurs in Residence programme.
• The perks don’t stop there - click ‘apply’ for further information on My Reward and Benefits

Interview Dates will be between 24th to 26th September
We are seeking to recruit a Senior Research Associate in Enzyme Biotechnology to work on plastic-deconstructing enzymes within the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI) at the University of Portsmouth (UoP).
The successful applicant will be hosted in the recently-refurbished Enzyme Engineering, Polymer Chemistry, and Biorecycling Laboratories at the CEI, which house state-of-the-art equipment including: extensive enzyme production facilities; automated biocalorimeters for enzyme activity and stability studies; analytical chromatography instruments for monomer identification and quantification; facilities for polymer synthesis and characterisation; and a suite of bioreactors employed for both microbial fermentation and enzymatic polymer deconstruction. Training on all necessary facilities will be provided in-house at the CEI. In addition, as a P3EB Mission Hub member, you will have access to training in cross-disciplinary topics such as intellectual property, AI, and responsible research and innovation. You will also have opportunities to visit collaborators’ laboratories, engage in interdisciplinary research and innovation, participate in regular online Researcher Forums, and attend Annual General Meetings of the P3EB Mission Hub at locations across the UK.
This opportunity will suit a post-doctoral researcher with an experimental background in biochemistry, biotechnology or polymer chemistry. Candidates with experience in scaling biocatalytic methods from the bench to bioreactor scale are especially encouraged to apply, as the work will target the scaled application of different methods and enzymes towards biorecycling of polymers.
We are advertising for three Senior Research Associates for the CEI. All three posts have a slightly different job description. Further details can be found on our website.
Applicants are encouraged to contact Professor Andy Pickford, Principal Investigator, should they wish to discuss this post in more detail (andy.pickford@port.ac.uk)
This appointment is a fixed-term contract (36 months) must be completed by grant end date of 13th Feb 2029