- Job Title
- Project Scientist (Microbiome)
- Post Number
- 1006123
- Closing Date
- 13 Jul 2026
- Grade
- SC7
- Starting Salary
- Salary: £28,890 - £35,670
- Hours per week
- 37
- Project Title
- Microbiome technician working with human samples
- Months Duration
- 12
- Flexible Options
- Although full-time hours are available, applications from those interested in working part-time hours are also welcomed.
Job Description
Main Purpose of the Job
Applications are invited for a Microbiome Technician to join the Laboratory of Dr Hildebrand in the Gut Microbes and Health programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.
How do gut bacteria colonise new human hosts and persist for decades with the same human? And how many fungi are present in human microbiomes? To answer these and follow up questions, we are currently recruiting a family centric cohort, PEARL-AGE (https://quadram.ac.uk/pearl-agestudy/).
In addition, we are investigating carbon cycles of soil microbes during changes in land use within the OpenLANDS consortium (https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/news/article/new-project-to-benefit-net-zero-targets-soil-health-biodiversity-and-agriculture).
We’re looking for an enthusiastic researcher with experience in working with microbes in the laboratory. The post holder will organise the laboratory of the group, and be thus involved in multiple projects.
Specifically, candidates with experience in working with human and soil samples, aliquoting these, conducting DNA extractions and sequencing library preparations, as well as organising procurement tasks.
Long-term, this work will contribute to developing the next generation of human gut microbiome treatments, enabling personalised & data driven medicine and understanding carbon cycles in the environment.
Key Relationships
The post holder will work closely with other group members, the line manager Prof Falk Hildebrand (Group Leader), and key collaborators (e.g. Prof Brian Reid, Dr Chris Quince, Prof Alessia Buscaino). The applicant is expected to participate in group meetings and help members of the Hildebrand group in their daily tasks. 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
- Provide administrative support to cohorts in the group (e.g. PEARL-AGE), and assist in recruitment and logistics related tasks.
- 25
- Collect, catalogue, characterise soil samples and extract DNA from these.
- 25
- Aliquote human stool samples to extract DNA at high quality and prepare for sequencing with various technologies.
- 20
- Assist with various projects as required for Hildebrand group projects, including managing inventories, protocol optimisations and culturing of microbes.
- 20
- As agreed with line manager, any other duties commensurate with the nature of the role.
- 10
Person Profile
Education & Qualifications
- Requirement
- Importance
- MRes or equivalent in Biology or related subject
- Essential
- A Levels or equivalent in Biology
- Essential
Specialist Knowledge & Skills
- Requirement
- Importance
- Basic wetlab techniques
- Essential
- DNA extractions
- Essential
- Sequencing Library preps
- Essential
- Ability to work independently on research projects
- Essential
- Culturing microbes
- Essential
- Working with human cohorts
- Desirable
Relevant Experience
- Requirement
- Importance
- Experience of working in a research environment
- Essential
- Microbial wetlab techniques
- Essential
- Basic programming skills
- Essential
- Writing scientific manuscripts
- Desirable
Interpersonal & Communication Skills
- Requirement
- Importance
- Ability to follow instructions/Standard Operating Procedures
- Essential
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, using initiative and applying problem solving skills
- Essential
- Good communication skills, both written and verbal
- Essential
- Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to work well as part of a team
- Essential
Additional Requirements
- Requirement
- Importance
- Able to present a positive image of self and the Institute, promoting both the international reputation and public engagement aims of the Institute
- Essential
- Willingness to embrace the expected values and behaviours of all staff at the Institute, ensuring it is a great place to work
- Essential
- Willingness to work outside standard working hours when required
- Essential
- Attention to detail
- Essential
- Promotes equality and values diversity
- 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 metagenomics 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. With this, we can go beyond species-centric interpretations of microbial ecosystems, to understand the system as a whole based on specific differences in its members. For representative publications relevant to the post please see (doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2021.05.008, doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00881-21, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VTfzjTgAAAAJ ) 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 four independent internationally-renowned research institutes: Quadram Institute, Earlham Institute, John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory alongside the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals. The Park hosts around 30,000 talented people, including 17,000 students, 3,000 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.
Living in Norfolk
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Project Scientist (Microbiome)
Applications are invited for a Project Scientist to join the Laboratory of Prof Hildebrand in the Gut Microbes and Health programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.
Background:
The Hildebrand lab uses metagenomics, molecular microbiology and high-throughput sequencing to study microbial communities in human and environmental systems. Our work asks how microbes colonise new environments, persist over time, and change in response to host, family and environmental factors.
A major focus of the group is PEARL-AGE, a family-centred human microbiome cohort studying how gut microbes are shared, maintained and evolve across family members and generations. In parallel, the group contributes to the OpenLANDS consortium, investigating how soil microbial communities contribute to carbon cycling during changes in land use.
Together, these projects offer an opportunity to work across human gut and soil microbiome research, using shared molecular and sequencing-based approaches to study different microbial ecosystems.
The role:
We are looking for an enthusiastic and well-organised researcher with experience working with biological samples and microbes in the laboratory. The successful candidate will support the day-to-day organisation of the Hildebrand lab and contribute to active microbiome projects including PEARL-AGE and OpenLANDS.
The role will involve handling human and environmental samples, aliquoting and processing samples, performing DNA extractions, preparing sequencing libraries, maintaining laboratory protocols, and supporting procurement and stock management. The postholder will also contribute to sample collection activities, including support for the PEARL-AGE human cohort and soil field sampling.
This position would suit someone who enjoys practical laboratory work, is highly organised, and would like to contribute to projects spanning human health, microbial ecology and environmental sustainability.
The ideal candidate:
Applicants should have experience in molecular biology or microbiology laboratory work, ideally including DNA extraction, sample processing and sequencing library preparation. Experience with microbiome-related samples, such as faecal, gut-associated, soil or environmental samples, would be particularly valuable.
Good communication and organisational skills are essential, as is the ability to work carefully, independently and as part of a team. Experience with human cohort studies, field sampling, protocol development, basic data analysis or scientific manuscript preparation would be advantageous but is not essential.
Part-time working arrangements may be considered and can be discussed with the line manager.
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 for a contract of 12 months.
Please note, this post does not meet UKVI requirements to provide visa sponsorship.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The Institute supports equality of opportunity within the workplace and expects 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 13 July 2026.
The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.