Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Scientist position in the Hildebrand group at the Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich, UK.
Background
Poor mental health is a major global health challenge, and growing evidence points to interactions between diet, lifestyle, the gut microbiome and mental wellbeing.
The role
You will integrate and analyse datasets to identify reproducible relationships between data layers, including:
- harmonising heterogeneous dietary, microbiome, metabolomic and mental-health datasets;
- reproducible statistical analysis workflows for longitudinal and multi-omics datasets;
- causal-inference analysis to understand the role of gut microbiomes;
- using validated machine-learning models to develop robust health predictions across cohorts.
Previous work from the group (doi:10.1016/j.chom.2023.05.024, doi:10.1038/s41531-025-00885-5, doi:10.1016/j.chom.2021.05.008), the project will investigate microbial communities associated with specific foods and identify bacterial strains and genes associated with diet–microbiome–mental-health relationships.
The ideal candidate
You will hold a PhD (or equivalent) in bioinformatics or related. Experience with microbiome data analysis, numerical ecology, neuroscience, machine learning, statistical modelling, mediation analysis, metabolomics would be advantageous. Skills in programming languages are important.
Additional information
This is a full-time post until 30 August 2028, with potential for a further 18-month extension depending on funding.
Salary on appointment will be within the range £39,000 to £46,500 per annum, depending on qualifications and experience. A starting salary of £40,100 is guaranteed for candidates who can evidence their PhD certificate at appointment; those awaiting confirmation of their PhD award will be appointed at £39,000 until evidence is provided.
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website via the 'Apply' button above or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1006222.
This role meets the criteria for a visa application, and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply. Please contact the Human Resources Team if you have any questions regarding your application.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The Institute supports equality of opportunity within the workplace and expects all employees to share and display these values. To support this commitment, we offer a range of family-, faith- and diversity-friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work. As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.
About the Quadram Institute:
The Quadram Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Our vision is Healthy living by design: promoting lifelong health by decoding the interactions between food science, nutrition, microbes, microbiomes and human physiology, and transforming this knowledge into innovative solutions for society.
A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, The Quadram Institute brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute. (https://quadram.ac.uk/).
The closing date for applications will be 17 November 2026.
The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.
£39,000 to £46,500 per annum, depending on qualifications and experience