- Job Title
- Project Scientist
- Post Number
- 1004991
- Closing Date
- 25 Nov 2025
- Grade
- SC7
- Starting Salary
- Salary: £28,890 - £32,100
- Funding End Date
- 31 Jul 2026
- Hours per week
- 37
- Project Title
- Microbial isolation stool samples
- Months Duration
- 9
Job Description
Main Purpose of the Job
Applications are invited for a Project Scientist to join the Laboratory of Dr Hildebrand in the Food, Microbiome and Health programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.
How do gut fungi colonize new human hosts and persist for decades with the same human? And how does their genome evolve during a human lifetime to fit the habits and peculiarities of each human host? To answer these and follow up questions, the Hildebrand group received an ERC Starter grant (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/948219).
Our aim is to dissect the genetic basis of human long-term colonization and for this we have started a family centric cohort, PEARL-AGE.
We’re looking for an enthusiastic researcher interested in the inheritance and evolution of human associated microbes, specifically fungi. The ideal candidate will have experience in the wetlab, with genome sequencing, DNA extractions, working with human-derived stool samples. The candidate will quantify fungal presence in these samples using a variety of methods (18S, culturing, etc) and will be investigating sequencing data with bioinformatic methods. Further, the candidate will help in preparing samples for metagenomic sequencing. The aim is to explore microbiomes at unprecedented resolution, to resolve eco-evolutionary processes determining resilience and functional plasticity of gut microbial communities.
Long-term, this work will contribute to developing the next generation of human gut microbiome treatments and enabling personalised & data driven medicine.
Key Relationships
The post holder will work closely with other group members, the line manager Dr Falk Hildebrand (Group Leader), group members involved in the project, and key collaborators (e.g. Drs Nathalie Juge, Richard Leggett). The applicant is expected to engage with group relevant activities (lab meetings, journal clubs etc) at the appropriate level. The applicant will have direct access to established PacBio/ONT, Hi-C and single cell sequencing facilities, as well as one of UK’s largest HPC cluster at the NRP.
Main Activities & Responsibilities
- Percentage
- Cultivate fungal isolates from faecal samples, sequence via ONT
- 30
- Use ITS or 18S amplicon sequencing to explore eukaryotes in faecal samples
- 30
- Extract & prepare microbial DNA for sequencing
- 25
- Report writing and dissemination of project outcomes
- 10
- As agreed with the line manager, any other duties commensurate with the nature of the post.
- 5
Person Profile
Education & Qualifications
- Requirement
- Importance
- MSc in Biology or equivalent
- Essential
- PhD in Biology or equivalent experience in the wetlab
- Desirable
Specialist Knowledge & Skills
- Requirement
- Importance
- Demonstrated ability to maintain accurate and detailed records of laboratory experiments and results
- Essential
- Basic microbial work - aseptic working
- Essential
- Basic Wetlab Techniques
- Essential
- Ability to confidently conduct experiments independently
- Essential
- Fungal microbiology
- Desirable
- Sequencing Library Preps
- Desirable
Relevant Experience
- Requirement
- Importance
- Isolating bacteria or fungi from stool
- Essential
- Experience of working with human stool samples
- Essential
- Laboratory experience in molecular biology techniques, such as PCR and DNA extractions
- Essential
- R Programming
- Desirable
- Microbial wetlab techniques
- Desirable
Interpersonal & Communication Skills
- Requirement
- Importance
- Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to work as part of a team
- Essential
- Able to take sufficient notes for reproducible science
- Essential
- Able to present work to others
- Essential
- Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
- Essential
Additional Requirements
- Requirement
- Importance
- Attention to detail
- Essential
- Promotes equality and values diversity
- Essential
- Working outside standard hours if required by project
- Essential
- Able to present a positive image of self and the Institute, promoting both the international reputation and public engagement aims of the Institute
- Essential
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and security of information where appropriate
- Essential
- Willingness to embrace the expected values and behaviours of all staff at the Institute, ensuring it is a great place to work
- Essential
Who We Are
Quadram Institute Bioscience
The Quadram Institute is at the forefront of a new interface between food science, gut biology and health, developing solutions to worldwide challenges in food-related disease and human health.
We are engaged in fundamental and translational food and health research, alongside clinical studies, endoscopy and industry, working together to become a leading international hub for food and health research, combining scientific excellence and clinical expertise, delivering impacts on patient care and accelerating innovation.
The Quadram Institute is a diverse and multicultural scientific community. We thrive on our international and European links, appointing staff from across the world. Any candidate who would like further information on current or anticipated immigration requirements can contact the HR Team on +44 (0)1603 450888 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk.
For more information about working at Quadram Institute Bioscience, please click here.
Department
Food, Microbiome and Health
Group Details
The Hildebrand group uses meta*omics to research the diversity, community interactions, and evolution of microbes in communities. Currently the group has projects in both human associated and environmental (soil, lakes) microbiomes, for which custom bioinformatic solutions are developed in-house to enable a wholistic microbiome exploration. We advocate strain-resolved metagenomics and develop the numerical solutions to work with MAGs intra-specific phylogenies. For representative publications relevant to the post please see (doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.05.024 , 10.1101/2024.09.09.24313184 , 10.1016/j.chom.2021.05.008) and www.falk.science for group information.
The Quadram Institute is based on the Norwich Research Park, which is one of the largest single-site concentrations of research in food, genomics, and health in Europe. The Park hosts 4 BBSRC Institutes (including Quadram), 17,000 students, 3,000 full-time researchers and clinicians, and over 115 companies. The outstanding reputation of our researchers is internationally recognised, with 10 of the Park's scientists in the top 1% of the "most highly cited" in the world, including Dr Falk Hildebrand.
Living in Norfolk
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Microbiome Project Scientist
Applications are invited for a Microbiome Project Scientist to join the Laboratory of Prof Hildebrand in theFood, Microbiome and Health Programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.
Background:
How do gut fungi colonize new human hosts and do they persist for decades with the same human? Do their genomes change over time? To answer these and follow up questions, the Hildebrand group received an ERC Starter grant, a project that the post holder will help shape. Our aim is to dissect these questions on a family centric cohort, PEARL-AGE (https://quadram.ac.uk/pearl-agestudy/).
The role:
We’re looking for an enthusiastic researcher interested in culturing fungi, using amplicon sequencing to characterize microbiomes, working with human samples, DNA extractions and sequencing library preparations. In addition, the candidate will also be involved in ongoing research within the group, such as analysing metagenomes, biasing DNA extractions to improve overall throughput of current lab protocols as well as looking into mechanisms to reduce overall costs for these.
The post holder will work on the EPYC ERC project and other related projects in the Hildebrand lab. They will develop skills in advanced microbiology techniques, sequencing technologies, culturing work with eukaryotes and prokaryotes and DNA extractions.
The ideal candidate:
Candidates should ideally have a higher academic education (PhD or similar levels of laboratory / writing / management experience) in microbiology or a related discipline. A good understanding of the human microbiome is of advantage, as is previous experience working with microbiomes, DNA extractions and culturing microbes. Good communication and organisation skills with the ability to work independently are also required.
The post is expected to commence in late 2025.
Additional information:
Salary on appointment will be within the range £28,890 to £35,670 per annum depending on qualifications and experience. This is a full-time post until July 2026.
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website https://jobs.quadram.ac.uk or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1004991.
We are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The Institute values of Respect, Innovation, Collaboration and Excellence are at the heart of all we do, and we expect all employees to share and display these values. To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work.
As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.
About the Quadram Institute:
The Quadram Institute is a new interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Its mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food. A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, it brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute. (https://quadram.ac.uk/).
The closing date for applications will be 25 November 2025
The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.