Scientist, Biotechnology - Pathogen

About EIT

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

Explore more at https://eit.org/.

Within this ecosystem, the Pathogen Mission exemplifies EIT's commitment to transformative science. It aims to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases by leveraging whole genome sequencing (WGS)-based metagenomic and pathogen-specific analytical tools. This remit includes the development of a decentralised, sample-to-answer sequencing diagnostic platform for infectious diseases, enabling rapid and accurate analysis of patient samples without prior assumptions. Supported by Oracle Inc.'s

cloud-computing scale and security infrastructure, the Pathogen Mission is progressing towards certified diagnostic products for deployment in laboratories, hospitals, and public health organisations worldwide.

At EIT, we are seeking a motivated, detail-focused Scientist, Biotechnology, to contribute to the early-stage development of a device-based metagenomic pathogen detection platform within EIT Oxford's Pathogen Programme. This work aims to establish proof of concept for a modular workflow that could enable infectious disease diagnosis at or near the point of care.

• Design, execute and document well-controlled, hypothesis-driven experiments to generate reproducible, high-quality data.
• Optimise and refine experimental workflows to improve reliability, reproducibility and performance.
• Apply structured experimental approaches, such as controlled comparisons and parameter variation, to investigate system behaviour and identify key performance drivers.
• Investigate nucleic acid adsorption, elution and surface interactions across device materials and reagent systems.
• Evaluate enzyme performance and assay conditions, including the effects of inhibitors, buffer composition and environmental variables.
• Collect, analyse and interpret experimental data using quantitative methods to inform scientific, engineering and product development decisions.
• Identify sources of variability in workflows and contribute to improvements in consistency, robustness and usability.
• Maintain clear, well-structured experimental records and contribute to technical reports, data sharing and cross-functional discussions.
• Work closely with scientists and engineers to support the integration of biochemical workflows into device and system designs.

• PhD, or equivalent industry experience, in Biochemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Bioengineering, Biotechnology or a related discipline.
• Strong hands‑on laboratory experience in biochemistry, chemistry and/or molecular biology, with expertise in areas such as surface chemistry, material‑biomolecule interactions, DNA binding dynamics, nucleic acid extraction or enzymatic activity assays.
• Strong understanding of experimental design, including the use of appropriate controls, reproducibility and data quality, and the ability to apply these principles in practice.
• Experience with molecular biology or biochemical techniques relevant to assay, workflow or platform development.
• Ability to analyse and interpret experimental data in a structured, quantitative manner.
• Experience troubleshooting experimental workflows and improving performance, robustness or reproducibility.
• Good laboratory practice, including careful…