Research Associate/Fellow (WATER-BLIND) (Fixed term)

Area

Plant & Crop Sciences

Location

Sutton Bonington

Salary

£31,387 to £46,485 per annum, depending on skills and experience (minimum £35116 with relevant PhD). Salary progression beyond this scale is subject to performance.

Closing Date

Friday 04 July 2025

Reference

SCI166825

Applications are invited for a Research Associate/Fellow position to work on an ERC funded project ‘WATER-BLIND’ which seeks to uncover how roots sense water stress.

Building on our recent discoveries (Mehra et al., Science, 2022), this project aims to identify novel genes and regulatory pathways involved in sensing water availability in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We are particularly interested in understanding the roles of ion fluxes and mechanosensing pathways in root adaptation to transient water stress.

This position is ideally suited to candidates with a strong interest in ionic signalling (e.g. calcium fluxes/signalling), root development, and molecular cell biology.

Applicants must be highly motivated and self-driven, with a PhD in molecular biology or a related area of biological science. (PhD students about to submit their thesis in a relevant area of root cell biology will be considered). The successful candidate should ideally have experience in the following areas: Root biology, cell/developmental biology and molecular biology such as techniques involving protein-protein interactions, transcriptomics, or single-cell sequencing. A track record of publishing research is also desirable.

This full-time post (36.25 hours) is available immediately and will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 3.0 years. Job share arrangements may be considered. Requests for secondment from internal candidates may be considered on the basis that prior agreement has been sought from both your current line manager and the manager of your substantive post, if you are already undertaking a secondment role.

For more information on our lab activities, please visit: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/biosciences/people/p.mehra

For informal inquiries, please contact Poonam Mehra at p.mehra@nottingham.ac.uk

Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.

The University of Nottingham is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

Further details:

• Job Description/Role Profile
• Our university is a supportive, inclusive, caring and positive community. We welcome those of different cultures, ethnicities and beliefs – indeed this very diversity is vital to our success, it is fundamental to our values and enriches life on campus. Visit our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion website.
• We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) employer. Increasing the diversity of our community is extremely important to us and we are committed to the aims of Disability Confident Scheme.
• We are the first university to have achieved Athena Swan Gold Award.
• To help you succeed, we published Candidate Guidance to provide support on the application and interview process.
• Discover our benefits, visit Your Benefits website.
• We welcome applications from UK, Europe and worldwide and aim to make your move to the UK as smooth as possible. Visit the Moving to Nottingham page for details.
• Your application will be considered on an equal basis, subject to the relevant permission to work in the UK as set out by UK Visas & Immigration.