Post Doctoral Researcher - Generative Biology Institute

Led by a world‑class faculty of scientists, technologists, policy makers, economists and entrepreneurs, the Ellison Institute of Technology aims to develop and deploy commercially sustainable solutions to solve some of humanity’s most enduring challenges. Our work is guided by four Humane Endeavours:
Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology, Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Change & Managing Atmospheric CO2 and Artificial Intelligence & Robotics.

Set for completion in 2027, the EIT Campus in Littlemore will include more than 300,000 sq ft of research laboratories, educational and gathering spaces. Fuelled by growing ambition and the strength of Oxford’s science ecosystem, EIT is now expanding its footprint to a 2 million sq ft Campus across the western part of The Oxford Science Park. Designed by Foster + Partners led by Lord Norman Foster, this will become a transformative workplace for up to 7,000 people, with autonomous laboratories, purpose‑built laboratories including a plant sciences building and dynamic spaces to spark interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Generative Biology Institute (GBI) at the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) aims to overcome two major challenges in making biology engineerable:
1) the ability to precisely synthesize entire genomes, and
2) understanding which DNA sequences will create biological systems that perform desired functions. Solving these challenges will unlock the potential of biology for transformative solutions in health, sustainability, agriculture, and more. GBI will house 30 groups and over 300 researchers, supported by cutting‑edge facilities and sustained funding to address global challenges and advance biology engineering.

EIT fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and resilience, valuing diverse expertise to drive sustainable solutions to humanity’s enduring challenges.

We are seeking ambitious and innovative Postdoctoral Researchers to join the Generative Biology Institute (GBI). This is your opportunity to be part of cutting‑edge research within an institute dedicated to engineering biology at an unprecedented scale. In this role you will support an internationally competitive research programme, leveraging GBI’s exceptional facilities, sustained funding and collaborative environment. You will design and execute experiments, contribute to high‑impact publications, and play a key role in the training and mentorship of junior researchers and students.

Working at the interface of biology, technology and engineering, you will help shape GBI’s vision to reimagine what’s possible in biology.

We are looking for postdoctoral researchers to support Group Leaders as they join GBI. We are currently recruiting for Group Leaders in the following areas which are consistent with GBI’s vision:

• Molecular and Cellular Design and Evolution.
• Enzyme design.
• Design of molecular assemblies and machines.
• Experimental accelerated evolution.
• Robotics, automation and autonomous labs.
• Genome mining and informatics‑based discovery.
• Computational AI sequence to function.
• Expanding chemistry in biology.
• Scalable error‑free DNA and genome synthesis.
• Microbial Genome Synthesis and Design.
• Gb‑scale Genome Synthesis for plants, human cells and animals.
• Combinatorial synthetic genomics.
• DNA delivery.
• Predictive models of DNA sequence to function, at the scale of genes and genomes.
• Human health applications and delivery mechanisms.

Examples of specific projects that we are working on, and for which we are also recruiting PhD students, can be found here:

• Reprogramming the Genetic Code
• Generative modelling of protein structure and sequence
• Accelerated Evolution
• Microbial Genome Synthesis
• Engineering genetic isolation

• Design, execute and troubleshoot experiments, including the development of novel methodologies and adaptation of existing techniques to new applications.
• Analyse complex datasets using computational and statistical tools, interpreting results in the context of broader research goals.
• Contribute intellectually to the research direction by identifying opportunities for innovation and refining research questions.
• Prepare and publish high‑quality…