POSITION DETAILS

Department of Inflammation and Ageing, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822
As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 7, salary £36,636
Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to September 2028
Closing date: 25th August 2025

BACKGROUND

We are seeking a talented and motivated post-doctoral researcher to join the Croft lab within the Rheumatology Research Group. The Research Fellow will be supervised by Professor Croft within the Department of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham.
The successful candidate will work in translational immunology to deliver a specific project to understand the biology of lubricin and its role in fibroblast-macrophage crosstalk in lining layer of the synovium under healthy resting conditions. The researcher will use a combination of synovial tissue organoid systems and transgenic mouse models to delineate the role of the proteoglycan-4 (the gene that encodes lubricin) in joint homeostasis.
The successful candidate will work in close association with other lab-based scientists and computational biologists in the Croft lab as well as collaborators in Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London.

ROLE SUMMARY

• Analyse and interpret research findings and support their publication
• Contribute to generating external funding
• Develop and make contributions to knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement, or similar activities at Department/School level or further within the University

MAIN DUTIES

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below

• Design and conduct bioinformatic data analysis pipelines under the guidance of the research supervisor to test the project hypotheses and complete project aims
• Develop research objectives, which may include proposals for further research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding that enhance the work of the department
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research-related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new computational models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture