Research Assistant

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Research Assistant to join the Penfield Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Crop Genetics. About the John Innes Centre: The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant and microbial sciences. We nurture a creative, curiosity-led approach to answering fundamental questions in bioscience, and translate that knowledge into societal benefits. Our strategic vision, Healthy Plants, Healthy People, Healthy Planet, sets out our ambitious long-term goals for the game changing impact of our science globally. Our employees enjoy access to state-of-the-art technology and a diverse range of specialist training opportunities, including support for leadership and management. Click here to find out more about working at the John Innes Centre. About the Penfield Group: The Penfield Group works to understand the effects of seasonal changes in temperature on plant reproductive development. We work with the model species Arabidopsis and Arable crops to understand how weather and climate variation affect reproductive development, crop yield and quality. We have a particular focus on exploiting gene editing for sustainable agriculture in non-cereal crops. The role: An opportunity has arisen for a part time technical assistant to join our crop transformation and gene editing team, specifically to assist in the development of new processes for the efficient gene editing of sugar beet. The project is an exciting collaboration between the John Innes Centre (JIC), British Sugar, the British Beet Research Organisation and Tropic Biosciences. Based at the JIC you will work closely with Postdoctoral Researchers in the team to develop and scale new protocols for crop transformation. Working as part of a team led by Professor Steve Penfield you will play a key role in developing transformation and gene editing capabilities in sugar beet, using plant tissue culture, Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation mediated plant transformation and basic molecular biology skills for the characterisation of transgenic plant tissues. The ideal candidate: You will have a degree in biological sciences and previous experience working in a laboratory. The ideal candidate will have an understanding of aseptic techniques and transgenic research, alongside working knowledge of molecular biology necessary for plasmid handling and nucleic acid analysis. Previous experience in plant tissue culture and crop transformation will be an advantage. The successful candidate will be well organised, able to keep good records and understand the importance of information security in public/private partnerships.