Research Associate/ Senior Research Associate in AI-Enabled Enzyme Engineering for PET Biorecycling

Salary:

Research Associate: £37,369 - £46,970 per annum

Senior Research Associate: £48,337 - £51,258 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: 12 November 2026

The Role

The Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre (EBIC - https://ebicentre.co.uk/ ), of which ICOS ( https://ico2s.org ) is a member, brings together scientists from leading UK institutions in a mission to engineer the properties and functions of microorganisms, creating more effective ways to monitor the environment, remove pollutants and support a circular bioeconomy.

We are seeking a Research Associate or Senior Research Associate to manage the experimental delivery of an AI- and bioinformatics-augmented, high-throughput platform for discovering and engineering enzymes that depolymerise polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PETase-like sequences will be prioritised, expressed, screened and improved through rapid Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycles.

You will combine synthetic biology, enzyme engineering, and bioinformatics to improve PETase, MHETase/BHETase, and PET-binding modules for PET degradation.

You will work closely with Professor Natalio Krasnogor, the wider ICOS and EBIC teams and international collaborators at PROIMI-CONICET in Argentina. You will establish reproducible protocols and structured data capture, coordinate delivery against milestones, publish high-quality research and help translate the platform towards industrially credible PET valorisation. Appointment at Senior Research Associate level will reflect a stronger record of independent management, supervision, partnership working, translation, research development and commercial/industrial experience.

This post includes travel within the UK and internationally, including visits to collaborator laboratories and conferences, as required for the project and subject to reasonable adjustments.

A completed doctorate in a relevant discipline is essential for appointment at either level.

For an informal conversation about the opportunity, please contact Professor Natalio Krasnogor at Natalio.Krasnogor@newcastle.ac.uk.

This role is full time, fixed term for a period up to 31.03.29

To apply, please upload a CV and letter of application which outlines how your skills, experiences and knowledge align with the person specification below.

Key Accountabilities 

For Research Associate and Senior Research Associate:

1. Steer the development of an end-to-end, experimental reproducible workflow for PETase discovery and optimisation, from candidate sequence to experimentally validated enzyme performance
2. Apply bioinformatic filtering, active-site and motif analysis, structure prediction, clustering and diversity-aware selection to prioritise compost-metagenome-derived PETase-like sequences supplied by project partners
3. Design and construct expression libraries using molecular cloning, heterologous microbial hosts and high-throughput cell-free expression; establish quality controls for expression, activity and strain or construct validation
4. Plan and execute rational, directed-evolution and AI-guided enzyme engineering cycles targeting thermostability, catalytic efficiency, substrate engagement and performance on solid PET and capture all strain engineering steps in CellRepo
5. Develop and validate a tiered screening stack and assays on real post-consumer materials
6. Implement and troubleshoot automated, miniaturised workflows using platforms such as Opentrons OT-2, acoustic liquid handling and microarray or plate-based robotics, with robust design-of-experiments and batch-effect controls
7. Capture experimental results as analysis-ready, provenance-rich datasets and close successive DBTL loops by using the data to update candidate ranking and mutation-selection strategies
8. Evaluate PETase, MHETase/BHETase and PET-directed binding-module combinations, quantify synergy and identify conditions relevant to scalable monomer recovery and circular upcycling routes
9. Analyse data rigorously, including kinetics, uncertainty, reproducibility and cross-platform or cross-site comparability; maintain excellent laboratory records, code, protocols and standard operating procedures
10. Work collaboratively across biology, chemistry, engineering, computing and industrial translation; coordinate experiments and exchange of materials and data with EBIC and international partners
11. Communicate results through peer-reviewed papers, technical reports, conference presentations, stakeholder activities and responsible public engagement, while observing safety, research integrity, data management and Responsible Research and Innovation requirements
12. Willingness and ability to travel within the UK and internationally, including visits to collaborator laboratories and conferences, as required for the project and subject to reasonable adjustments

Additionally, for Senior Research Associate:

13. Provide scientific and technical management for major work packages, defining priorities, decision criteria, risks, resources and delivery plans across the computational, automation and wet-laboratory components
14. Coordinate partner-facing delivery and translate platform outputs into decision-grade evidence for biofoundry, enzyme-technology, recycling and other industrial stakeholders
15. Mentor and supervise researchers and students, establish inclusive and reproducible working practices, and build capability across the team
16. Initiate follow-on research, contribute substantially to grant and associateship applications, and help shape the strategic development and external profile of the EBIC/ICOS programme
17. Explore and contributes towards technology translation and exploitation

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential for Research Associate and Senior Research Associate:

• Substantial hands-on research experience in synthetic biology, molecular biology, microbial biotechnology, enzyme engineering, biochemistry or a closely related area
• Demonstrable experience of molecular cloning, DNA/RNA manipulation, microbial transformation or genome engineering, cultivation and validation of engineered organisms or constructs
• Experience designing and optimising heterologous protein-expression systems and functionally characterising recombinant enzymes
• Experience applying directed evolution and/or DBTL workflows, including library design, mutagenesis, high-throughput screening and genotype–phenotype interpretation
• Ability to develop robust, reproducible experimental workflows with appropriate controls, traceable records, quantitative analysis and critical troubleshooting
• Experience using generative AI for biotechnology and bioinformatics to inform experimental design, such as protein or nucleotide sequence analysis, motif/active-site assessment, clustering, structure prediction or variant prioritisation
• Practical computational and data-analysis skills sufficient to create transparent, reusable analyses and to work effectively with computational collaborators; familiarity with Python, R or equivalent tools is advantageous
• Evidence of delivering original research to a high standard, normally including peer-reviewed publications and presentation of work at scientific meetings
• Ability to manage priorities and milestones independently while contributing constructively to a multidisciplinary, multi-partner research programme
• Excellent written and oral communication, including the ability to explain complex experimental and computational work to specialists and non-specialists and to write protocols that other laboratories can reproduce
• Ability to undertake laboratory work involving microorganisms, molecular biology and enzyme assays in accordance with institutional risk assessments, training and safety procedures

In addition, essential for Senior Research Associate:

• A sustained record of independent or substantially self-directed research management, with high-quality outputs appropriate to career stage
• Experience coordinating complex work packages or collaborative projects, managing scientific risk and coordinating delivery across disciplines or organisations
• Experience supervising, mentoring or developing researchers and/or students and promoting an inclusive, high-performing research culture
• Evidence of contributing to research funding, partnership development, technology translation, work in or engagement with industrial and other non-academic stakeholders
• An additional record of independent research management, supervision and collaborative delivery commensurate with the senior level of the role

Desirable for both Research Associate and Senior Research Associate:

• Research experience with PETases, polyester hydrolases, plastic biodegradation, biocatalysis or enzymatic polymer recycling
• Experience with microbial strain engineering, cell-free protein expression or rapid prototyping of enzyme variants
• Laboratory automation experience, including robotic liquid handling, Opentrons, acoustic dispensing, assay miniaturisation, microarrays or high-throughput plate workflows
• Experience developing fluorescence- or absorbance-based enzyme assays and/or chromatographic quantification using HPLC, UPLC, LC or GC
• Experience of protein structure analysis, machine learning, protein language models, generative design or other AI-enabled approaches to protein engineering
• Experience analysing metagenomic data or discovering enzymes from environmental sequence datasets
• Experience designing multi-enzyme systems, binding modules, enzyme formulations or process-relevant assays using insoluble substrates
• Experience translating synthetic biology or enzyme technologies towards industrial application, including scalability, robustness, downstream-process compatibility or technology-readiness assessment
• Experience of international research collaboration, responsible innovation, public engagement or contributing to social-media communication of research
• Experience working on relevant industry or commerce setting with goal-oriented and deadline-constrained environment

Attributes and Behaviour

Essential for Research Associate and Senior Research Associate:

• Independent, resourceful, reliable and able to exercise sound scientific judgement
• Curious and original in approach, with the resilience to diagnose failure modes and iterate constructively
• A collaborative team member who works effectively and respectfully with people from different disciplines, sectors and cultures
• Highly organised and dependable, with the ability to prioritise work, maintain rigorous records and deliver to agreed milestones
• Committed to safe laboratory practice, research integrity, reproducibility, open and responsible research, and an inclusive working environment
• Motivated by the translation of engineering biology into credible environmental and circular-economy solutions

In addition, essential for Senior Research Associate:

• Able to set direction, make proportionate decisions under uncertainty and support others to deliver ambitious interdisciplinary research
• Able to represent the programme confidently with collaborators, funders, industry and wider stakeholders

Qualifications

Essential for Research Associate and Senior Research Associate:

• A completed PhD in synthetic biology, molecular biology, microbial biotechnology, enzyme engineering, biochemistry, bioengineering, bioinformatics or a closely related discipline. The doctorate must have been awarded by the time of appointment

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: 29827