Research Scientist - Natural Polymers and Bio-Based Materials

Materiom is seeking a full-time, hands-on Research Scientist to support our in-house experimental data generation efforts, developing protocols on automated platforms, and performing experiments and characterisations on bio-based material systems and natural polymers. The goal is generating the high-quality experimental data that drives our AI/ML-accelerated discovery and modelling platform for sustainable polymeric materials.

About Materiom: Materiom is an impact-focused, non-profit tech startup with the mission to accelerate the research, development, and uptake of bio-based materials that have a net-positive impact on the planet. We do this by building datasets and software tools for scientists, producers, and brands. The Materiom Commons is our open platform, providing a large open database of material formulations and AI features to support a community of 20,000+ scientists, designers, engineers and entrepreneurs to quickly and easily find bio-based solutions for packaging and textiles applications.

About the Role: This is a hands-on role for someone who thrives in a wet lab, particularly working with testing various polymer formulations and the properties of materials made using these formulations at different processing conditions. The role sits at the intersection of formulation science, polymer and material characterisation, and data-driven experimental design. You will develop protocols for experimental testing with automated liquid-handling platforms, generate clean, structured, high-quality experimental datasets that feed directly into our machine learning workflows, and help shape the feedback loop between physical experiments and predictive models.

Key Responsibilities:

• Plan and run lab-scale formulation experiments on liquid-based biopolymer systems including dispersions and solutions.
• Characterise liquid formulations using methods such as rheology as well as spectroscopic techniques including FTIR and UV/Vis.
• Prepare material samples and characterise their physical and chemical properties.
• Operate and develop methods on automated liquid-handling and high-throughput platforms to increase experimental throughput.
• Design and perform structured experiments to explore formulation and process variables efficiently and maximise the information gained from each run.
• Generate clean and well-structured datasets, ensuring data quality and integrity for downstream analysis and modelling.
• Analyse and interpret experimental results to identify trends and structure–property relationships, using these insights to guide subsequent experiments.
• Work within machine learning, active learning and agentic AI workflows, translating model-guided recommendations into experiments and feeding results back into the loop.
• Maintain rigorous lab records, follow good laboratory and chemical-safety practice, create and document protocols for reproducibility.
• Collaborate with internal scientists, engineers and with external partners to improve and diversify the generated experimental data.
• Maintain, calibrate and troubleshoot laboratory instruments to keep experimental workflows running reliably.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD or MSc in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or a related field.
• Hands-on laboratory experience working with polymers (ideally bio-based / natural), with a demonstrated ability to plan and run experiments and characterisations independently.
• Practical experience preparing and testing end materials in various forms.
• Working knowledge of Design of Experiments (DoE) and a structured, data-driven approach to experimentation.
• A genuinely hands-on, bench-oriented mindset, with strong lab discipline and attention to data quality.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to thrive in an interdisciplinary team.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Industry experience (corporate or startup) working with polymers, ideally bio-based or natural ones.
• Experience with automated liquid-handling / high-throughput experimentation platforms or self-driving / autonomous labs, including basic familiarity with computer programming to review and debug orchestration scripts.
• Exposure to active learning or other data-driven / machine learning approaches to materials and formulation optimisation.
• Experience scaling formulations and materials from lab to pilot or manufacturing scale.

What We Offer:

• Competitive Salary: An annual salary range of £40K-55K, commensurate with your experience and expertise.
• Annual Bonuses: Eligibility for performance-based bonuses to reward your contributions to the company’s success.
• Generous Paid Time Off: 30 days of paid holiday per year for full-time positions, in addition to all UK bank holidays.
• Learning & Mentorship Grants: An annual individual budget dedicated to developing your hard and soft skills.
• Commuter Support: Access to a Bike2Work scheme to support sustainable travel.
• International Retreats: Regular company retreats, often held in international locations, to build connection and celebrate progress.
• Collaborative Team Culture: Our culture is defined by deep, interdisciplinary collaboration, offering you the exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of materials science and AI to drive positive impact for people and the planet.