Postdoctoral Training Fellow – Goehring Lab

Salary for this Role:

From £38,300 per annum, subject to skills and experience.

Job Title:

Postdoctoral Training Fellow – Goehring Lab

Reports to:

Nathan Goehring

Closing Date:

23.59 GMT

Job Description:

Postdoctoral Training Fellow

This is a full-time, fixed term (4 year) position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

Please note this is a rolling advert with no specific closing date. Applications will be considered as they arrive and will close once the position is filled.

Anticipated starting date of Spring 2022, though flexibility is possible.

The research group

Work in the Goehring lab aims to understand how cell polarity is established by polarity networks that transduce symmetry-breaking cues into stable molecular asymmetries. Our work focuses on a conserved polarity network defined by the PAR (PAR-titioning defective) proteins, which underlie polarity in diverse contexts, including defining epithelial architecture and function, driving asymmetric division of stem cells, and specifying cell fate of embryonic blastomeres.

Using the C. elegans embryo as a model, our interdisciplinary team combines genetics, quantitative imaging, in vivo biophysics, and mathematical modelling to link system-level properties of the PAR network to molecular behaviours, thereby providing a multi-scale model for how PAR proteins polarize cells in response to developmental cues and ultimately how polarized patterns are read out by the downstream pathways that define a cell’s functional polarity. For more detail, please see our website.

Position summary

We aim to recruit a talented and motivated Postdoctoral Training Fellow to join our group. Postdoctoral Training Fellows are expected to lead their own projects, to generate and pursue independent research ideas, and to contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis (both in the lab and with external collaborators). A variety of potential projects are available. The specific project will be developed together with the successful candidate with consideration of their specific interests and experience.

Some examples of current projects include:

• Modeling and manipulating PAR network feedback circuits
• Quantitative exploration of kinase-substrate interactions in polarity networks
• Coupling of mechanical and biochemical networks during cell polarization
• Cell cycle control of cell polarity and fate specification pathways
• Canalization of developmental variability during embryogenesis
• Mechanisms for encoding cellular memory

Note this is a core-funded position, though successful candidates will be encouraged to pursue external fellowship support.

We welcome applications from diverse backgrounds who can bring new ideas, tools, and/or perspectives to the group.

Informal inquiries to nate.goehring@crick.ac.uk. Please include a clear statement of why you are interested and how you see yourself contributing to our group.

Key experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial, in addition to the following:

Essential

• PhD (awarded or expected) in Cell and Developmental Biology, Biophysics or similar. Applicants from Physics, Computer Science or Engineering backgrounds seeking to expand their skills in the context of a combined wet/dry project are also welcome to apply.
• A demonstrated ability to generate and pursue independent research ideas
• A demonstrated ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary team
• Willingness to mentor junior members of the laboratory
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Strong organisational and record-keeping skills
• Track record of scientific scholarship, evidenced by preprints, publications or submitted manuscripts in refereed journals