Assistant Professors

About the Job

The School of Life Sciences (SLS) wishes to appoint six excellent and ambitious early career principal investigators to our academic research and teaching staff.

We are looking for individuals who develop innovative and original research programmes that address current and future challenges with strong potential for translation and impact, in or across the following specific areas of life science:

• Biomedical microbiology and infectious disease.
• Biomedical cellular disease or immunity pathways.
• Environmental biology or environmental microbiology.
• Plant/crop science including phenomics, plant physiology, genetics/breeding or virology.

We and the wider University of Warwick environment offer substantial opportunities for professional development including regular opportunities to attend international conferences.

About You

Individuals whose research has strong potential for industrial collaborations and who are developing work with translatable and societal impact are particularly encouraged. Those taking engineering biology, computational, mathematical, or artificial intelligence-based approaches (in any area listed above) would also be particularly encouraged. Candidates must explain how they will benefit from, and enhance, the existing research being carried out in the School via collaborations, student co-supervisions or interactions within our research clusters and with other departments.

Researchers who can bridge between disciplines and with other departments are particularly encouraged and will benefit from Warwick’s continuing investment in STEM as well as our strong interdisciplinary and international research community (https://warwick.ac.uk/research/spotlights/). All applicants must be able to demonstrate proven track records in publication and diverse sources of research income, and we particularly welcome applicants with independent fellowships.

You will benefit from the provision of high-quality research administrative support and research infrastructure within the School of Life Sciences and also via the University of Warwick’s flagship Research Technology Platforms,  which includes advanced bioimaging, proteomics, genomics, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, growth facilities for experimental plants and animals and CL2 and CL3 laboratories (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/tic/).

You will be positioned to attract PhD students from the large BBSRC (MIBTP)- MRC- and NERC (CENTA)-funded Doctoral Training Programs at Warwick. In addition to developing your independent research programme, you will be expected to contribute to and develop various undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes in areas that reflect your research expertise and interests. The teaching areas of our strategic interest include Biomedical Science, Engineering Biology and Computational Biology. Applicants must evidence a strong commitment to education and training as well as an interest in enhancing their own practice.

For details on the experience and skills required, please refer to the job description attached as a PDF below.

About Us

The School of Life Sciences (SLS) is a cohesive, enthusiastic community producing world-class, high-impact bioscience research and teaching within an open, friendly, inclusive and highly collaborative environment.

Research spans the full range from fundamental to strategic and translational.

Funding sources include UKRI, charities, Defra, and Innovate UK as well as contracts direct with industry partners. Our Gibbet Hill Campus is shared with Warwick Medical School and includes the new IBRB which opened in 2022.

Our campus has containment level 2 and 3 facilities for microbiological work and equivalent quarantine facilities that support plant science, in addition to world-class research laboratories and support infrastructures. For further information about the School of Life Sciences please see our website at https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/.

These research activities are supported through the provision of School-level facilities (e.g. media prep, glassware, cell culture facilities), but also through the Research Technology Platforms to ensure that its researchers may have access to the latest, high-quality instrumentation along with expert support staff. These include Bioinformatics and Digital Health for the interrogation and interpretation of sequencing, proteomics, and metabolomics data as well as statistical analysis, the Crop Centre which has fully supported field, glass and controlled environment and Agri-tech facilities, as well as specialised facilities for pest and pathogen work, such as areas to maintain pest populations, quarantine areas for plant pathology and long-term insect survey and weather records, plus a wealth of genetic resources including the UK Vegetable Gene Bank, the Biomedical Services Unit for the provision and maintenance of experimental animals, Advanced Bioimaging for EM, cryoEM and light sheet microscopy, and Proteomics for mass spectrometry of proteins and metabolites.

The School’s range of technologies is listed at https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/tic/, our research clusters at https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/research/ and cross-disciplinary research centres at https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/research/centres/.

We believe that collegiality, openness, inclusivity and diversity are essential for an excellent research and teaching environment. Our workplace ethic has enabled us to gain the Athena SWAN Silver award. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace and encourage applications from all groups with protected characteristics traditionally under-represented in STEM fields. As part of our ongoing commitment to addressing gender equality under the Athena Swan chartermark, we would particularly encourage and welcome applications from female academics.

For those eligible, the University offers relocation and Immigration Support Scheme packages to assist with costs of relocating and any associated visa applications and HIS (health) surcharge fees. You will also be provided with an agreed start-up package for your research.