Postdoctoral Research Fellowship renewable

Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 2026 (1-year, renewable up to 3 years) (Job ID: 6306)

Duties and responsibilities:

• Conduct innovative research in the field of New Approach Methods (NAMs), relating to the development and validation of novel advanced three-dimensional (3D) cancer models for pharmaceutical applications.

• Conceptualise own research project and secure external funding.

• Training and co-supervision of postgraduate students.

• Author/co-author at least three (3) publication outputs per year in the form of DHET–accredited scholarly journal articles or books/chapters in books. The renewal of the fellowship beyond the first year depends on satisfactory performance and the submission of an annual progress report.

• Participate in interdisciplinary research projects.

• Register and reside as a post-doctoral research fellow at the UFS and actively participate in research events within the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Eligibility requirements:

• Open to all South African and foreign nationals for full-time research at the University if the Free State (Bloemfontein campus).

• Graduated with a PhD degree in the field of Biomedical/Medical-Bio/Pharmaceutical sciences or related field within the last five years.

• Strong scientific publication record.

• Experience in conventional (2D) cell culture, advanced (3D) cell culture - (advantageous) techniques.

• Experience in conducting experiments using microscopy, Western blot workflow and qPCR using the Quant Studio 5 system.

• Experience in quantitative data analysis.

• Ability to work independently as well as in a team.

• Successful applicants may not hold full-time salaried employment during the fellowship.

• Successful applicants must be able to relocate to the UFS for the duration of the fellowship. This is a residential fellowship: the successful applicant is required to spend 80% of their postdoctoral period at the UFS.

Value of the fellowship:

• R 270 000 annual fellowship.

• R 30 000 additional research expenses fund.