Postdoctoral Researcher in Quantitative Cell Biology/Biochemistry (10404) in Harwell

The Rosalind Franklin Institute (the Franklin) is a technology institute established by the UK Government as a unique centre committed to advancing tools that are needed to transform healthcare in the future. The Institute brings together researchers in life and physical sciences, and engineering, to develop a spectrum of tools which we will use to image, interpret and intervene in biological systems. These insights will speed up the discovery of new medicines, help find new diagnostics and contribute to a deeper understanding of human health and disease. Our Science Strategy seeks to focus the Franklin's research and unite our researchers around our Technology Innovation Challenges and Life Science Challenges.

If you are a creative scientist who would like to work in collaboration between biophysics, structural biology and biochemistry, then join us. Our labs (Pombo-Garcia & Wu) are interested in molecular organisation of cell interfaces in the epithelial tissue and glycobiology. We use super-resolution STED microscopy, CryoET, in combination with biophysics and chemical biology, to uncover how epithelial cells organise in space and time under different physico-chemical environments to drive self-organisation processes, like condensates, that shape mesoscale structures enabling tissue function.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Rosalind Franklin Institute, you will bring scientific knowledge and skills to deliver a specific research project and/or you will bring independent, creative science, or specific skills to a team delivering a project or program. Through this work, you will build scientific independence, develop new science and leadership skills, and establish a growing reputation externally. Your role will be to lead a research project focused on developing tools for quantitative imaging of epithelial cell biology and biophysics. Moreover, you will support and develop novel workflows of bioimaging analysis to quantify advanced imaging data generated by super-resolution STED microscopy, FLIM, FRET and FCS.

Candidates must hold a PhD in cell biology, biophysics or biochemistry along with experience in advance quantitative microscopy analysis. We are looking for a colleague with strong organisational and communication skills, with demonstrated laboratory experience. Experience in formulating research questions and devising strategies to address these questions would aid the individual selected for this role. We expect you to lead publications, contribute to research grant writing, collaborate with other members of the lab towards knowledge advancement.

This post would be ideal for a candidate who has developed a strong background in imaging quantitative biology, biophysics or in vitro reconstitution and would like to lead a project developing novel imaging tools to understand different biomolecules of cell-cell interfaces and who would like to gain further experience in cutting edge techniques including super-resolution imaging, condensate biology and CryoET.

• Your primary task will be to lead a project on quantitative cell biology of cell interfaces.
• You will develop novel tools to visualise biomolecules (lipids, glycans, proteins) in cells to observe the dynamic formation of cell interfaces in epithelia.
• You will generate complex data based on super-resolution fluorescence and CryoET and will need to analyse data.
• We encourage applicants with a broad experimental-analytical interest, as the job holder will contribute both to the development of new methods and their application to investigate the organisation and dynamics of cell interfaces.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher, you will also:

• Plan and conduct experiments, analyse and interpret results and supervise delivery of outputs (e.g. research reports, patent applications) in a scientific/technology area of interest.
• Work within a project team, contributing to wider projects around key Franklin's Challenges.
• Lead major contributions to research outputs including papers, patents and both internal and external presentations.
• Support and develop others including day-to-day supervision of students or visitors in areas related to your own research.
• Have supervised, staged progression to first stages of scientific independence with opportunities to further develop science and skills/experience.
• Enhance your research through collaboration with other researchers and make active contributions to exchange of ideas through your own network.
• Be able to understand, interpret, create and communicate appropriately within a research context.
• Develop search and discovery skills and techniques.
• Be supervised by a Scientist/Senior Scientist in delivery of research outputs, either in the context of a project or Franklin's Challenge or as an early career development fellow.

Before submitting your application please ensure you read the Job Information Pack for full details of this role on our website. This job description sets out the skills and experience we believe are needed to be able to do this job but, research also tells us women are much more likely than men to take this list of requirements as absolute and self-select out of the process. If you think you can deliver this role then we want to hear from you, regardless of the boxes you did not tick.

Whilst the role requires candidates to hold a PhD/DPhil (or equivalent), we may consider candidates who have submitted their PhD/DPhil thesis, in which case the initial appointment will be made at £38,500 per annum (to be increased on completion of the PhD/DPhil qualification).

In return we offer:

• 25 days holidays plus bank holidays and Christmas holiday shutdown
• Generous pension scheme (employer's contribution currently up to 18%)
• Group Life Assurance (also known as Group Life Insurance or Death in Service)
• Buying and Selling Annual Leave
• Workplace Nursery Salary Sacrifice Scheme
• Hub building with state-of-the-art laboratories
• Hybrid and flexible working
• Training and development opportunities for staff at all levels
• Bus pass discount scheme and good transport links to Oxford and surrounding areas
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Access to employee discount platform (Perkbox)
• Occupational Health and wellbeing support including Employee Assistance (24/7 support and counselling)
• Health Cash Plan
• Subsidised canteen and food outlets on campus
• Free on-site parking
• Campus location in beautiful countryside with social and sports clubs open to staff

The Franklin's underlying aim is to produce the best science for research today, and this means resolutely embracing a diverse team, who have a wide range of experiences, skills and knowledge to push forward on the innovative work our institution delivers. Both our work and our institution are better for it. For further information, view our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every applicant has an equal opportunity to showcase their talents and abilities. This includes making adjustments for candidates with specific needs. Please contact us at recruitment@rfi.ac.uk to discuss your requirements confidentially.

At the Rosalind Franklin Institute we also welcome applications from all around the world!

Closing date: The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 23rd August 2026. Interviews are planned for w/c 14th September 2026.

AREA: Scientific

TYPE OF POST: Full Time

PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT: 18 Months Fixed-Term Contract (with the possibility of extension)

SALARY: From £39,500 per annum (depending on skills and experience)