Postdoctoral Research Fellow (van Bijsterveldt Lab)-Generative Biology Institute in Oxford

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we are on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO2
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you will join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society.

Welcome to the Generative Biology Institute: Led by Founding Director Jason Chin, the Generative Biology Institute (GBI) at the Ellison Institute of Technology is tackling the key challenges in making biology engineerable, unlocking the unrivalled power of biology for the benefit of humanity. The vision of the GBI is to lay the foundations for engineering biology and unlock its potential for good. To achieve this, we must overcome two key challenges:

• We need the ability to write in the natural language of biology, enabling the rapid and scalable synthesis of entire genomes with precision.
• We must understand what to write - determining which DNA sequences will generate biological systems that perform the desired functions.

Addressing these challenges will allow us to harness the full power of biology to create transformative solutions across health, agriculture, clean energy and more.

The Generative Biology Institute commenced operations in 2025, occupying newly renovated bespoke space in the Oxford Science Park. The team will later move to a purpose-made facility in the Oxford Science Park, currently under construction. Once complete, this state-of-the-art facility will include more than 40,000 m2 of research laboratory and office space. It will house over 30 groups and up to 600 employees at scale, focused on solving the two critical challenges in making biology engineerable and applying the solutions to addressing the global challenges encapsulated in EIT's Humane Endeavours.

The van Bijsterveldt Lab is seeking ambitious, creative, and highly skilled Postdoctoral Researchers to join the van Bijsterveldt Lab at GBI. The van Bijsterveldt Lab, led by Principal Investigator Linda van Bijsterveldt, is working at the frontier of genome engineering. Our mission is to build chromosomes from scratch and control how they are inherited. The chromosome is the fundamental unit of inheritance and the only vehicle large enough to encode truly new biological functions. Yet we currently lack the tools to build one from scratch and control its transmission. Our research tackles the core challenges in synthetic chromosome engineering: centromere design, faithful mitotic segregation, and the control of chromosome pairing and recombination during meiosis in both mammals and plants. The long-term vision is programmable synthesis and inheritance of large synthetic genetic systems, with broad implications for how we understand and engineer life.

How To Apply: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. In your cover letter, please clearly explain your fit, interest, and relevant experience for joining the group. In addition, we ask that you include a brief proposal (one page or less) outlining what you would like to work on and why - this does not need to be fully formed, but should give us a sense of your scientific interests and how they connect to the group's research. Experience in one or more of the following areas is desirable: working with large DNA constructs (assembly or delivery), cell culture, or techniques to study chromosome behaviour (e.g., NGS, live-cell imaging, mitotic spreads, or FISH). Please highlight any relevant experience in your cover letter or proposal. All applications must be submitted exclusively through the EIT job portal. If you would like to discuss this role in more detail, prior to submitting an application, please contact Linda Van Bijsterveldt at linda.vanbijsterveldt@eit.org. Due to the volume of applications, the review and decision process may take 3‐6 months.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments, including the development of novel methodologies and adaptation of existing techniques to new applications.
• Analyse complex datasets using computational and statistical tools, interpreting results in the context of broader research goals.
• Contribute intellectually to the research direction by identifying opportunities for innovation and refining research questions.
• Prepare and publish high-quality scientific papers, reports, presentations, and protocols.
• Present research at national and international conferences, seminars, and internal meetings.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams within GBI, EIT, and external partners to advance complementary workstreams.
• Build and maintain research infrastructure, laboratory capabilities, and cutting-edge technologies.
• Mentor and support junior researchers, including PhD students and research assistants.
• Translate research findings into commercial or translational opportunities in alignment with EIT's mission.
• Identify and pursue opportunities for intellectual property generation and protection.
• Ensure research activities comply with EIT's policies, legal requirements, and best scientific practice.

This list is not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to undertake additional tasks and duties commensurate with the role.

Requirements:

• Completed a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., synthetic biology, computational biology and AI, microbial, plant and human cell biology, genomics, robotics and automation, and nucleic acids chemistry).
• Track record of delivering ambitious research projects to a high standard.
• Strong track record in research, ideally in molecular biology, synthetic biology, or related fields.
• Skilled in data analysis and interpretation; experience with genomic analysis, automation, or computational tools desirable.
• Proven ability to work independently, think creatively, and solve complex experimental problems.
• Experience publishing in high-impact journals and presenting at international conferences.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience collaborating in multidisciplinary teams.
• Capacity to build and sustain productive collaborations internally and externally.
• Resilience, adaptability, and enthusiasm for working in a fast-paced, high-growth research environment.

Benefits:

• Salary: Competitive + travel allowance + bonus.
• Enhanced holiday pay.
• Pension.
• Life Assurance.
• Income Protection.
• Private Medical Insurance.
• Hospital Cash Plan.
• Therapy Services.
• Perk Box.
• Electric Car Scheme.

Working Together - What It Involves:

• You must be eligible to work in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. We are open to sponsoring employment visas for this role; however sponsorship is not available for all visa types or in all circumstances. Eligibility will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• You must be based in, or within easy commuting distance of Oxford, or be willing to relocate.
• During peak periods, some longer hours may be required and some working across multiple time zones due to the global nature of the programme.
• This is a 4 year fixed term contract.