Postdoctoral Research Officer

Applications are invited for a fixed-term, full-time Postdoctoral Research Officer working in the School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University.

Applications will also be considered to carry out this role on a part-time or job share basis.

Committed To Equal Opportunities

Overview

The Project

The post holder will become a key member of the P3EB project and CEB (The Centre for Environmental Biotechnology), a £8.6 M research capacity building project supported by the European Regional Development Fund/Welsh European Funding Office and co-funded by Bangor University.

The P3EB project is funded by the UKRI (BBSRC) Technology Missions Fund and runs for five years starting from February 2024. The P3EB research hub brings together 23 co-investigators from seven UK universities including Bangor University, who will use synthetic biology, biotechnology, and engineering approaches to address the pressing challenges of environmental plastic pollution and recycling by coupling engineering biology with protein biochemistry and other complementary disciplines.

Other ongoing CEB projects include mining the extremophilic microbial diversity and biochemical characterisation of new enzymes for the bioconversion of plastic deconstruction products to novel polymers and valuable chemicals.

Purpose of the Job

The post is part of an established team working in environmental microbiology, enzyme discovery, and bioremediation at the Centre for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB). The post holder will be responsible for supporting the PI and Co-Is at Bangor and conducting, analysing and publishing experimental studies in relevant research areas.

The research outcomes will include enhanced grant capture and high-quality peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.

The post will also facilitate the use of highly specialised CEB equipment by academic staff of Bangor University to enhance overall grant income and improving research outputs of core CEB staff.

Main

**Responsibilities**:
Research
- Establishing and optimising quantitative protocols for polyester degradation product analysis.
- Working closely with P3EB Project team and CEB staff (Golyshin, Yakunin) in key aspects of the P3EB project, including taking a lead in selecting novel experimental methods for protein engineering.
- Coordinating research on enzymatic polyester degradation and protein engineering within the P3EB project.
- Planning, prioritising and organising the research and resources in order to meet the P3EB objectives and operate withing financial targets.
- Taking responsibility for the maintenance of enzyme resources and infrastructure and reporting progress to the Bangor P3EB team.
- Performing analysis of data produced in the P3EB project for the preparation of research papers and patents.
- Writing research papers for submission to peer-reviewed journals about the outcomes and findings resulting from the P3EB project.
- Conducting research on the identification, isolation, and characterisation of novel polyesterases.
- Identification and quantitation of enzyme reaction products using various approaches (HPLC, spectrophotometry, mass spectrometry).
- Providing assistance in training for CEB students and staff in polyesterase assays and protein engineering.

Administration
- Administration responsibilities including participating in project meetings and taking the lead in specific tasks.
- Assisting in supervision of undergraduate, Research Masters and PhD students.

Other

**Responsibilities**:

- The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities.
- The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme.
- The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for themselves and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by their actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.
- The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.

Person Specification
- Qualifications/Training_

Essential
- A PhD degree (or be near completion) in biochemistry, molecular biology, or microbiology.
- Experience/Knowledge_

Essential
- A strong background in enzymology and experience with enzymatic and protein engineering tools for carboxylesterases and polyesterases with publication records.
- Strong expertise (with publication records) in polyesterase assays and reaction optimisation for polyester depolymerisation, as well as in site-directed mutagenesis.
- Broad experience in carboxylesterase product analysis and identi