UE07 £40,247 - £47,874 Per Annum

College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine / Edinburgh Medical School / Deanery of Biomedical Sciences / Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences

Full Time, 35 hours per week

Fixed Term: 60 months

We seek a motivated postdoctoral researcher to conduct primary research into how neurons transport mRNA to distal sites and use these mRNAs as substrates for local protein synthesis during synaptic plasticity.

The Opportunity:

A Wellcome Trust CDA-funded postdoctoral position is available in the lab of Dr Paul Donlin-Asp (https://www.donlin-asp-lab.com/). This project aims to understand how neurons transport RNA and decide when/where they are translated into protein. This project will use a combination of imaging of mRNA and local protein synthesis to track where and when mRNAs are made available for local protein synthesis. We will couple these data with advanced proteomics to understand the regulatory network of proteins controlling how these mRNAs move and when they are read into protein. For more information, don't hesitate to contact Dr. Paul Donlin-Asp (pdonlin@ed.ac.uk). 

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Appropriate degree with relevant post-graduate research experience. Usually, a PhD (or PhD near completion) in Neuroscience/Cellular Biology/Biochemistry or equivalent professional qualification and/or experience.
• Previous first-author publications in a neuroscience/cell biology-related subject area.
• Experience working with laboratory animals/ culturing of primary rodent neurons.
• Experience with stereotaxic injections (mice).
• Previous experience with fluorescence imaging and analysis.
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly, orally, and in writing.

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As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. We give you support, nurture your talent and reward success. You will benefit from a competitive reward package and a wide range of staff benefits, which includes a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, flexible working and much more. Access our staff benefits page for further information, and use our reward calculator to find out the total value of pay and benefits provided.

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

If invited for an interview, you will be required to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab).

Unless stated otherwise, the closing time for applications is 11:59 pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK, the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browser's local time zone. 

The University is able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role.  If successful, an international applicant requiring sponsorship to work in the UK will need to satisfy the UK Home Office’s English Language requirements and apply for and secure a Skilled Worker Visa.  

About Us

As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.

About the Team

The Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, which is headed by Professor Mike Shipston, employs around 390 staff. Biomedical Sciences hosts the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences (CDBS, Head: Professor David Wyllie) and Infection Medicine (IM, Head: Professor Juergen Haas). These have strong links with Edinburgh Neuroscience (Co-Directors: Professor Cathy Abbott and Professor Malcolm MacLeod) and Edinburgh Infectious Diseases (EID, Co-Directors: Professor David Dockrell and Professor Sarah Reece).

Research themes within Biomedical Sciences include Genes and Development; Synapses, Circuits, & Behaviour; Injury & Repair; signalling, homeostasis, & Energy Balance; ageing & Degeneration; Antimicrobial Resistance; Host-pathogen interactions Global Health and Diagnostics Research. Our excellence in research is underpinned by the hosting within Biomedical Sciences of the UK Dementia Research Initiative (UKDRI) at Edinburgh (Head: Prof Giles Hardingham) and the Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain (Head: Prof Peter Kind).

Also within Biomedical Sciences is the Biomedical Teaching Organisation (BMTO), which plays a vital role in the administration, coordination and implementation of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. The BMTO is responsible for the BSc Medical Sciences programme and twelve BSc Biomedical Sciences Honours Programmes.

Twenty-three Biomedical Sciences courses are delivered to first to third-year undergraduates, and approximately thirty Honours elective courses along with seven Bachelor of Medical Sciences Honours programmes as part of the Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery (MBChB) degree and five BSc Veterinary Sciences Honours Programmes as part of the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery (BVM&S) degree.

In addition, the BMTO has responsibility for a large portfolio of on-campus and online MSc programmes run by Biomedical Sciences. The BMTO student population is approximately 1500 undergraduate students and 550 postgraduate students.

Biomedical Sciences is also home to The Zhejiang University – University of Edinburgh (ZJE) Institute which is the University’s flagship overseas institution for education and scientific research.     The partnership is responsible for two Dual Award BSc Honours programmes as well as a Dual Award PhD programme, a one-year Masters by Research Programme, and 4 4-year PhD programme.

Biomedical Sciences is located across a number of sites: the Chancellor’s Building and Queen’s Medical Research Institute at Little France; the Medical School in Teviot Place; the Hugh Robson Building, George Square and No 1 George Square.

In REF2021, the College submitted to three Units of Assessment (UoAs): UoA1 Clinical Medicine, UoA4, Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, and UoA6 Agriculture, Veterinary & Food Science. Most of the staff in Biomedical Sciences were returned in UoA4 (Neuroscience); this return was ranked 2nd in the UK for “quality” and 3rd in the UK for “power”.  Edinburgh’s submission is the only one in the UK to have been ranked in the top three for both of these descriptors. 

Fifty-two per cent of our research papers were awarded the highest score of 4*, defined as world-leading, and a further 38% were rated 3*, defined as internationally excellent.  Moreover, 100% of our ten impact case studies were awarded 4*, meaning they are world-leading in reach and significance, and 100% of our environment was awarded 4*, meaning the context in which our research takes place is world-leading in vitality and sustainability.

Biomedical Sciences holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award denoting our commitment to the aims of the Charter, showing that we have recognised and responded to challenges and planned activities for the future.