Research Assistant

Salary: £33,002.00 - £33,951.00  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 24 December 2025

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity for a Research Assistant to work on a project exploiting glycans to develop new treatments for bone metastasis. The project is funded by the Prostate Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Now Bone metastasis collaboration fund and will run alongside other projects in our lab (see: www.munkleylab.co.uk). 

Bone metastasis is a common incurable consequence of both prostate and breast cancer that causes severe pain and fractures and can be devastating for patients. This project will exploit newly developed glyco-immune checkpoints to develop new urgently needed treatments for breast and prostate cancer patients with bone metastasis.

The Research Assistant will use immunohistochemistry to monitor glycans and Siglec receptors in clinical samples from patients with bone metastasis. Alongside this, we will perform pre-clinical evaluation of therapeutic antibodies to test if they can stop tumours growing in bone. The project will utilise a range of in vitro and in vivo models of breast and prostate cancer (including immune cell co-cultures and in vivo mouse models) and includes a collaboration with an industrial partner.

For more information see: PMIDs: 38772281, 36725887 and 37550801.

This post is fixed term for a period of 18 months 

For informal enquiries contact:jennifer.munkley@newcastle.ac.uk  

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/  

Find out more about our Research Institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Key Accountabilities

• Contribution to the research programme of the School/Institute under the clear guidance of a member of an academic staff or Principal Investigator
• Use initiative and creativity to analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes
• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, deal with problems which may affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s)
• Present information on research progress and outcomes to a Principa
• Investigator or groups overseeing the research project
• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into th
• research project’s dissemination, in whatever form (report, papers, chapters, book)
• Work to deadlines and manage, with support, competing priorities
• Ensure that personal knowledge in relevant fields of study is kept up to date
• Use research resources (including, where required, laboratories, workshops and specialist equipment) as appropriate
• Maintain academic standards and freedom, and work in accordance with university policies (e.g. equal opportunities, health and safety policies)
• Possible supervision and demonstration duties within undergraduate laboratories and example classes or in teaching small seminar classes
• Undertake relevant training and development activities to develop capacity for taking on wider responsibilities
• Develop, with advice, an awareness of own professional development needs and a personal development strategy

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Some subject knowledge in the relevant area
• Good level of analytical skills and the ability to communicate complex information clearly, both orally and through the written word
• The ability to work collaboratively with colleagues
• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems

Desirable

• Some postgraduate experience
• Knowledge of prostate cancer, glycosylation and pre-clinical drug testing.
• Culture of primary and/or immune cells
• Experience of immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and in vitro cell behaviour assays (cell proliferation, viability)
• Record of completing research, including writing for publications and presentation of data at conferences
• Publication record in cancer research (or related field)

Attributes and Behaviour

• Clear commitment to research
• Excellent team working and communication skills
• Professional attitude to scholarship and research
• Strong analytical and experimental planning skills
• Excellent personal organisation, record keeping and attention to detail

Qualifications

• Good honours degree (or equivalent) with some subject knowledge in the relevant area 
• May possess (or be working towards) a higher research degree

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28903