Career Opportunities at Queen's

Development of the pre-clinical data package relating to the translation of various novel radiosensitising nanoparticles. The successful applicant will work as part of a team seeking to commercialise our lead candidate formulation designed to increase the tumour killing effectiveness of radiotherapy, while minimising the risk of off-target damage to surrounding normal tissue. This project will involve the synthesis, physical characterisation and biological assessment of a series of derivatives of the existing candidate formulation. This multi-disciplinary project spans the fields of pharmaceutical engineering, radiobiology and cancer biology, with the successful candidate responsible for assessing in vitro and in vivo biological efficacy.

About The Person 

The successful candidate must have, and your application should clearly demonstrate that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Have or about to obtain a PhD in cancer biology, cell biology, radiation biology, pharmaceutical sciences or biomedical sciences
• Hold a valid UK Home Office Personal Animal License for mice and rats.
• Experience of planning and executing in vivo studies including PK/PD and tumour growth delay models.
• Three years relevant experience in mammalian cell culture assays. Techniques could include: MTT/Alamar Blue, clonogenic assays, DNA damage assays, micronuclei detection assays. This is not an exhaustive list.
• Experienced in high-quality microscopy and molecular techniques (e.g.  immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, RT-PCR, western blot, not exclusive).
• Relevant experience of synthesising and characterising physical properties of nanoparticle formulations
• Experience of assessing in vitro biocompatibility and efficacy.
• Self-drive and initiative to problem solve when research requires knowledge outside of current skill set.
• Experience of successfully working as part of a wider team
• Evidence of publication in quality peer reviewed journals, appropriate to career stage.
• Demonstrable experience of student supervision. Willingness to assist early-stage researchers to establish core technical competence.
• Ability to carry out routine administrative tasks associated with the research projects and laboratory maintenance.

To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information.

This post is available for12 months or until 31 March 2027 whichever is soonest. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.

What we offer:

Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/HumanResources/pay-reward-andbenefits 

Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality.

For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit www.qub.ac.uk/diversity. 

If you are an international applicant and don't already hold a visa that permits you to take up the role you are applying for, please use the information provided on our website to self-assess whether the University is likely to be able to support a visa application - http://go.qub.ac.uk/internationalstaffsupport 

Candidate Information