Laboratory Technician - Plant 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.

Welcome to the Plant Biology Institute: The Plant Biology Institute, headed by Professor Steve Kelly, is a key part of the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) Oxford. The institute aims to develop impactful and commercially sustainable solutions for improving global food production and planetary health through pioneering plant science research. Our research is focused on enhancing our ability to feed the planet while simultaneously improving the climate and ecosystem outcomes of food production.

Areas of exploration include:

• Improved plant productivity, both indoors and outside.
• Reduced reliance on inputs including water, fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides.
• Novel decarbonised plant-based production platforms for food and medicines.
• Advanced technologies that speed up discovery and deployment in plants.

Your Role: The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) is seeking a detail-oriented and proactive Laboratory Technician to provide essential laboratory and experimental support within its innovative Plant Sciences research programmes. This role involves hands-on responsibility for cultivating experimental plants, preparing reagents, and supporting a range of molecular biology, tissue culture, and microbial techniques. The successful candidate will assist with data collection, maintain accurate records, and uphold rigorous laboratory safety and maintenance standards.

Your Responsibilities:

• Experimental Support: Grow and maintain experimental plants under controlled conditions (growth chambers). Prepare reagents, buffers, and transformation constructs as required. Support Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Prepare plant and microbial samples, including culture media, inoculations, antibiotics, and controlled environment setups. Support biochemical analyses, including protein extraction and purification, protein quantification, SDS–PAGE, immunodetection techniques (e.g., Western Blot), plate-reader assays. Maintain and propagate tissue culture materials under sterile conditions. Assist in the transformation of plant tissues. Assist in the culture and maintenance of plant or microbial cells in a variety of systems. Support upstream and downstream processing steps including inoculation, growth monitoring, and harvesting of cultures, genotyping, metabolic analysis, sampling extraction and preparation for analysis. Execute routine molecular biology workflows to support genetic characterization of plant and microbial strains. Prepare sterile media and maintain aseptic conditions for cell-based cultures. Operate and monitor small scale bioreactors or fermenters.
• Laboratory Support and Maintenance: Keep the laboratory clean and organised, including regularly cleaning benches, instruments, and common spaces. Support general laboratory organisation processes and stock management. Ensure that all equipment is properly stored, calibrated, and maintained. Assist with equipment setup and basic troubleshooting. Disinfect and sterilise laboratory tools, consumables, and areas according to established protocols. Ensure that laboratory safety standards are adhered to, including proper handling and disposal of waste materials. Comply with GMO regulations, follow SOPs, biosafety procedures, and plant quarantine protocols.
• Data Collection and Record Keeping: Accurately record experimental procedures and data in laboratory notebooks or digital systems. Support data analysis through organisation of datasets, labelling of samples, and contribution to experimental summaries.
• Inventory Management: Assist in managing inventory of reagents, consumables, and laboratory supplies in accordance with EIT procedures. Keep accurate records of inventory levels, assist with ordering new stock, and ensure that supplies are replenished in a timely manner. Ensure that all reagents and materials are correctly labelled, stored, and easily accessible for workflows.
• Sample and Equipment Handling: Assist with the transport and preparation of biological samples, ensuring that proper documentation and labelling procedures are followed. Deliver and retrieve samples and materials between different laboratory sections as needed. Handle and deliver consumables or samples to designated researchers or technical teams.

Requirements:

• Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience: Be qualified in a related field up to BSc (e.g. Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics). Familiarity with media preparation, sterilisation techniques, and autoclaving of waste. Experience working with plants and microorganisms under sterile conditions. Understanding of molecular biology workflows, including any of these skills: primer design, genotyping, PCR, plasmid extraction (mini-, midi-, and maxiprep), DNA/RNA extraction, DNA quantification, bacterial transformation (heat shock and electroporation), agarose gel electrophoresis, cloning, and construct design. An awareness of health and safety at work, COSHH legislation, and understanding of laboratory safety.
• Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience: Experience in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation or basic plant transformation methods would be advantageous. Experience in plant cell culture, including initiation, subculturing, regeneration, and maintenance of suspension cultures under sterile conditions. Experience in histological preparation and sectioning of leaf tissues (e.g., using a vibrotome, microtome). Experience in microscopy (e.g., light, fluorescence, dissecting, confocal). Experience working under microaerobic or anaerobic conditions.

Benefits: Salary dependent on experience + travel allowance + bonus. Enhanced holiday + options to buy additional days. Pension. Life Assurance. Income Protection. Private Medical Insurance. Hospital Cash Plan. Therapy Services. Perk Box. Electric Car Scheme. Childcare benefit.

Working Together – What It Involves: You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).