Diamond Light Source Ltd.
Location
Oxfordshire | United Kingdom
Job description
Business Area
Science
Full Time Salary
£37,087 to £40,754 per annum (Discretionary range to £46,868)
Post Type
Full time / Fixed term
Term
3 years
Closing Date
02/04/2024
Ref No
11328
Documents
About Us
Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. By accelerating electrons to near light-speed, Diamond generates brilliant beams of light from infra-red to X-rays which are used for academic and industry research and development across a range of scientific disciplines including structural biology, physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, earth, and environmental sciences.
About the Role
We now have an opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) for an appointment of up to three years as part of a newly funded UKRI grant entitled, “UK - Switzerland Partnership for Dynamic Structural Biology”. We seek candidates for this PDRA position with an emphasis on serial crystallography correlated with X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) collected at synchrotrons and/or at XFELs. You will help commission instrumentation to enable on-demand sample delivery methods in serial crystallography with an aim to collect room-temperature, time-resolved datasets at Diamond Light Source and/or at XFELs – including SwissFEL. This will be integrated with a von Hamos geometry, energy dispersive spectrometer for XES data collected from iron, copper, and/or nickel containing systems, and you will also help with commissioning it at Diamond VMXi beamline and/or XFELs including the SwissFEL Cristallina end station.
The XFEL Hub and our collaborators conduct research and development at the forefront of serial and time-resolved macromolecular crystallography. We also work to transfer those techniques that are complementary and synergistic between XFELs, synchrotrons, and cryo-EM, and/or electron diffraction (ED). Our research and development efforts cross several fronts in biophysics from enzyme kinetics to various types of spectroscopies and includes a variety of serial crystallography experiments at Diamond Light Source and all hard X-ray XFEL facilities around the world. Our science drivers include heme and non-heme metalloenzymes that use Fe, Cu, and/or Ni ions or clusters to facilitate catalysis of a wide range of energetically difficult reactions in biology.
We define dynamic structural biology as a philosophy as well as a set of tools to collect as much data as possible, from every sample and every X-ray pulse, at physiological temperature and pressure, with an aim to create time-resolved, stop-motion, molecular movies of macromolecules engaged in function. One of our over-arching objectives is to create routine and robust strategies that exploit microcrystal slurries for time-resolved studies at XFELs and storage rings like Diamond’s VMXi and I24 beamlines. Many of our research and development efforts include large, international collaborations with significant interactions at the University of Oxford and other UK universities, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and XFEL facilities in the USA, Japan, Korea, Germany, and Switzerland.
Duties include:
About You
You will hold an PhD in biochemistry, chemistry, biophysics, or related engineering field(s) as well as experience in the use of scientific instrumentations and data collection.
XFEL experience in time-resolved structural biology and/or spectroscopy is highly desirable, but not essential.
Benefits
Diamond offers an exceptional benefits package to support staff in achieving a positive work/life balance. This includes 26 days annual leave plus Christmas closure, public holidays, 2 annual volunteering days and flexible working hours. We also offer an excellent defined benefit pension scheme. Staff also have access to a range of amenities on site including a nursery, cafes, a restaurant and sports and leisure facilities. A relocation allowance may also be available where applicable.
To Apply
Please use the online application process to apply and tell us why you believe you are suitable for this role.
The initial closing date for applications is 2nd April 2024, however applications will be reviewed and interviewed on an ongoing basis until this vacancy is filled.
Diamond is open to different ways of working and we are committed to supporting our employees to have more flexibility and autonomy over where, when and how long they work.
Where relevant, and possible for the role, we will consider flexible working arrangements, secondment and job share opportunities.
Diamond attract talented individuals from around the world and currently employ 44 different nationalities. Reflecting trends in our sector we employ more men than women (77% men and 23% women as at March 2021). Therefore, we particularly welcome applications from suitably qualified women.
If you are disabled and would like to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, please let us know via the online application process.
Diamond are members of Working Families (the UK’s work-life balance organisation), we have also achieved the Athena SWAN Bronze award and Disability Confident Level Two.
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