Research Assistant

DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL: The Institute for Biomedical and Bioscience Science Research (IBBR) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Buckingham Campus

JOB TITLE: Research Assistant

SALARY & HOURS: £31,587 per annum/Full Time

Contract Type: Two years contract in the first instance, with potential to become permanent.

The University of Buckingham is among the fifteen smallest in the UK and is rightly proud of its distinctive features, namely: it is the only private University in the UK with a Royal Charter; Buckingham has staff from over 60 countries, making it a truly distinctive work environment. Whichever of our locations you find yourself working in, you will be sure to feel a part of our friendly community. Our size enables us to foster a very personalised, supportive, inclusive and collaborative environment, with lots of opportunity for development, something which we are very proud of.

A Research Assistant position is now available at the institute for Biomedical and Biosciences Research (IBBR) to support the Higher Education and Scientific Research in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buckingham. The IBBR is an internationally recognised research Institute fully integrated into the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. The IBBR research activities are growing and expanding rapidly with implementation of new collaboration projects with UK and overseas private and academic institutions. Also, in 2023 and 2024, the IBBR is expecting to welcome further PG students to undertake their research degree at the University of Buckingham.

Role Purpose

IBBR overview

At the IBBR preclinical studies are undertaken to examine the in vitro and the in vivo mechanism of action of several medicinal plants to evaluate their therapeutic potential compared with synthetic drugs, for obesity, diabetes and other inflammation and oxidative stress related diseases.

At the IBBR, we are also exploring a new research area (with our overseas collaborators) to develop a new approach for drugs transdermal delivery (including insulin). The transdermal delivery approach should be comparable in effectiveness to traditional subcutaneous injections without associated side effects such as pain, phobia of needles and decreased adhesion, as well as an increased risk of infection.

Skills & Experience

The Research Assistant will be a key player in the conduction of our in vitro research projects on obesity, diabetes and other inflammation and oxidative stress related diseases: Culturing and maintaining primary cells and established cell lines, performing Western Blotting, PCR, RT-PCR, EIA, and ELISA assays.

• The successful applicant will ideally hold a master’s by research in a biomedical Sciences, cell and molecular biology, immunology, or associated subject,
• This post demands strong experience in tissue culture, molecular biology (Western Blotting, PCR, RT-PCR), EIA, RIA,
• Previous experience in confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and IHC would be highly desirable,
• Previous experience in skin physiology, animal models of obesity, diabetes and other inflammation related diseases would be appreciated,
• The successful candidate will be familiar with MS Office 365 and data analysis software such as Graph-pad Prism.

This position is a two year fixed term, full-time appointment in the first instance, with potential to become a permanent position.

Informal enquiries may be made to Prof Mohamed Zaibi on Tel: +44 (0)1280 820 370 or at Email: mohamed.zaibi@buckingham.ac.uk

The closing date for applications is 25th June 2023

It is anticipated that interviews will be held on the week of the 3rd July 2023

Please note: if successful, any offer is subject to standard checks, including qualifications, eligibility to work in the UK on a permanent basis and DBS (if applicable)

For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/about/hr/

What can we offer you?

We might be small, but we can still offer plenty of perks! In addition to an Aviva Pension scheme, we offer:

• Beautiful working environments across our campuses in Buckingham and Crewe, with plenty of space
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Christmas closure
• On-site gym and exercise classes
• On-site catering facilities
• University bookshop with staff discount (Buckingham)
• Free access to LinkedIn Learning courses
• Free on-site parking
• Excellent opportunities to network and continue learning across a variety of departments