Research Assistant / Associate in immunology in Newcastle upon Tyne

Salary Research Assistant: £33,951 to £35,608 per annum. Research Associate: £36,636 to £46,049 per annum.

Closing Date: 26 June 2026.

The Role: Research assistant/research associate in the Haematopoiesis and Immunogenomics Lab (HI Lab) at Newcastle University, covering maternity leave. The position focuses on understanding how human immunity is generated and regulated through haematopoiesis. Responsibilities include applying cutting‑edge cell culture, transcriptomic, epigenetic, and genomic approaches, implementing single‑cell multi‑omics and functional genomics, and using integrative computational analyses to define transcriptional networks that control immune cell differentiation and function. The role also involves translating mechanistic insights into novel therapeutic strategies such as engineered immune cell products and dendritic cell‑based immunotherapies.

Key duties are:

• Design and execution of experiments.
• Analysis of high‑dimensional datasets.
• Dissemination of findings through high‑impact publications and presentations.

Position: full‑time, fixed‑term up to 10 months, depending on start date.

Key Accountabilities:

• Collect, analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes.
• Coordinate own work with that of others and use problem‑solving skills to achieve research objectives.
• Present information on research progress and outcomes to the Principal Investigator or overseeing groups.
• Write up results and contribute to project dissemination in reports, papers, chapters, or books.
• Use research resources, including laboratories, workshops and specialist equipment, as appropriate.

• Contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of the project.
• Determine appropriate methodologies for research and assess findings for further investigations.
• Contribute to the writing up of research and its dissemination through seminars, conferences, or publications.
• Present research findings at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets.
• Contribute to grant applications and develop own research proposals for funding.

The Person:

• Ability to set up and run multi‑parameter flow cytometry experiments and interpret data (including R, GraphPad Prism, Flowjo).
• Ability to establish, maintain and analyse human stem cell differentiation cultures in vitro.
• Ability to handle, prepare and store limited human samples as viable cells.
• Ability to perform single‑cell experiments, including phenotyping and transcriptomic analyses.
• Experience in programming, including R and Python.
• Attention to detail and high level of accuracy.
• Ability to present complex information effectively to diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to analyse data and write‑up results.
• Experience working collaboratively with colleagues.
• Excellent IT skills with major office applications.
• Personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems.

• Awareness of the research environment.
• High level of analytical and problem‑solving capacity.
• Excellent communication of complex information.
• Experience of presentations at conferences and/or high‑quality publications.

• Commitment to working positively as part of a multi‑skilled research team.
• Ability to negotiate and prioritise competing responsibilities and meet deadlines.
• Commitment to continued professional development.
• Understanding of and commitment to good practice in equality, inclusion and diversity.

• Honours degree in immunology, haematology, molecular biology, or biosciences.
• Masters in Immunology, chronic disease or a related area.
• Be within a few months of submitting PhD thesis (3rd or 4th year PhD).

• PhD in immunology, haematology, molecular biology, single‑cell technologies or a related field.

Equal Opportunities, Diversity and Inclusion: Newcastle University is a global university that treats everyone with dignity and respect. We are a Sanctuary university welcoming individuals fleeing violence and persecution. We actively recruit, support and retain colleagues from all sectors and celebrate diversity. We are a proud equal‑opportunity employer and encourage applications from individuals who complement our existing teams. We hold the Gold Athena Swan award, the Race Equality Charter Bronze award, and are a Disability Confident employer offering interviews to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. We are members of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Contact: Contact for the post: Dr Venetia Bigley (venetia.bigley@newcastle.ac.uk)