Research Associate in Organic Chemistry in London

About the role

Please note interviews will be held on a rolling basis while the advert is live. It is therefore strongly recommended that you submit your application as early as possible. The advert will be closed once a suitable candidate is selected.

PIONEER (Programmable In-Organelle Nucleic-acid Entry, Expression and Retention) is an ambitious UK research consortium from Imperial College London, the University of Bristol, and the University of Glasgow, funded through the UK’s Advanced Research and Innovation Agency’s (ARIA) Precision Mitochondria programme, with a single bold goal: to build, from end to end, the ability to engineer the genome of mitochondria, the energy-producing compartments inside our cells. Mitochondria carry their own small genome, and reliably installing new, synthetic genetic material inside them has long been one of the great unsolved problems in biology. PIONEER sets out to crack it: to deliver large pieces of synthetic mitochondrial DNA across the mitochondria's notoriously difficult double membrane, switch on new genes inside, and make those changes stable over time.

Ultimately, PIONEER seeks to demonstrate successful mitochondrial genome engineering in vivo and thereby open a new frontier for fundamental biology and for future therapies against mitochondrial disease. What makes this work distinctive is how deliberately interdisciplinary it is. PIONEER brings together leaders in nanomaterials and drug delivery; automation, AI and machine learning for chemistry; synthetic cell engineering; single-molecule biophysics; advanced spectroscopy; genome engineering; and single-cell genetics. The whole programme is built so these fields feed into one another rather than working in isolation. You would be joining a large collaborative team of PDRAs and PhD students whose culture is designed to enable early-career researchers to achieve ground-breaking results by working fluidly between disciplines. It is a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of several cutting-edge fields on a problem that will not only bring exciting new fundamental insights but also, if solved, would be a breakthrough for science and humanity.

A Research Associate in Organic Chemistry is available to join the PIONEER programme – a bold, ARIA-funded UK consortium with a single goal: to engineer the genome of mitochondria. You will develop and synthesise the bespoke polymerisable monomers at the heart of our stimuli-responsive nanogel delivery platform, working in a rare interdisciplinary environment spanning synthetic chemistry, nanomedicine, AI-driven materials discovery, and genome engineering.

What you would be doing

Your primary focus will be the design and multi-step synthesis of functional polymerisable monomers – the ‘molecular LEGO’ building blocks of our stimuli-responsive nanogel platform. These nanogels must navigate five distinct barriers to reach the mitochondrial matrix, and the chemical diversity you create will directly determine how far we can push the biology. You will work closely with a complementary PDRA running automated high-throughput nanogel synthesis and with our computational and automation collaborators (Prof. Kim Jelfs and Dr. Becky Greenaway), feeding a closed-loop Bayesian optimisation cycle with chemically diverse, well-characterised building blocks. Your synthetic outputs will directly shape the machine learning model and the biological screening results that flow from it. You will also contribute to spin-labelled monomer derivatives for EPR-based delivery verification – a key metrology strand of the programme. This is an opportunity to do genuinely translational organic chemistry, with your bench work flowing directly into a programme that could establish a new frontier in mitochondrial medicine.

What we are looking for

• A PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, or a closely related discipline (or equivalent research/industrial experience)
• Demonstrated experience in multi-step organic synthesis, retrosynthetic planning, and optimisation of synthetic routes
• Proficiency in full analytical characterisation by NMR, HRMS, HPLC, and IR spectroscopy
• Experience with stimuli-responsive chemistries (desirable)
• Experience or interest in polymer chemistry, nanoparticle design, or functional materials (desirable)
• A collaborative, creative mindset and the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries in a large consortium environment

What we can offer you

This is a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of cutting-edge organic synthesis, AI-driven materials discovery, and mitochondrial medicine within a world-class research consortium. In addition, we offer:

• A large programme-level investment, giving you the resources, infrastructure, and collaborative network to deliver genuinely frontier chemistry over a 3-year fixed-term contract.
• Access to state-of-the-art automated synthesis infrastructure (high throughput instruments and suite), advanced characterisation facilities, and a directly embedded computational design team for closed-loop optimisation of your synthetic outputs.
• Regular interaction with a diverse consortium spanning chemistry, biophysics, AI/ML, genome engineering and single-cell genetics, with programme-wide away days and interdisciplinary seminars designed to broaden your scientific horizons.
• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
• Grow your career: gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression.
• Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
• Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing.

If you require any further details about the role, please contact: Dr. Nazila Kamaly – nazila.kamaly@imperial.ac.uk