Research Fellow - Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes Grade 7

Position Details

Department of Microbes, Infection and Microbiomes, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health

Location:

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to March 2028

Closing date: 11th January 2026

To create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities as part of an Investigator project funded by Wellcome, focusing on understanding microbial and diet interactions in beneficial gut microbiota members such as Bifidobacterium (Bif), and their role in early life colonisation and ecosystem dynamics.

The successful candidate in the Hall lab will explore how beneficial (e.g. Bif), and microbes with pathogenic potential impact wider ecosystem dynamics in global infant populations and how different microbiota members, functional features, and genomic traits in Bif may influence these interactions, such as dietary component breakdown (e.g. human milk oligosaccharides, plant-based carbohydrates). A fundamental understanding of these features will allow selection of Bif communities for next‑stage translational projects.

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual who is motivated by big ideas in the field of early life microbiome research and is seeking to join an inclusive team. The skills/experience of the successful candidate represents a flexible framework that will align with different aspects of the Wellcome project. Particular skills and expertise we are looking for include: sequencing‑based microbiome profiling, bioinformatics analysis (metagenomics and/or microbial genomics and/or transcriptomics and/or ML/AI), and microbial ecology and microbiology approaches (growth assays, ecological/community studies, ideally with a focus on dietary components, and generation of bacterial mutants).

We do not expect that the successful candidate will have all these skills, rather an individual may have high‑level expertise in 1‑2 specific areas, or a broader portfolio (with good experience in several areas).

• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc.
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD/MSc students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research‑related activities and research‑related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Conduct microbiological studies, including bacterial culturing, growth curves, and molecular characterisation (potential generation of KOs)
• Carry out microbiome ecology studies, including mock‑community, co‑culture and batch culture experiments, as well as model colon studies
• Bioinformatics analysis, such as QC, data processing, microbial genomic analysis, and microbiome profiling/interaction analysis from clinical/experimental samples. Potentially including more in‑depth AI/ML…