"Research Fellow in Vaccine Bioprocessing"

About us

This position is a key part of the Vaccines Manufacturing Hub for LMICs (VaxHub Global), led by UCL Biochemical Engineering and the University of Oxford with several academic and industrial partners. VaxHub Global is funded with a £10M grant from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and managed by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as part of the UK Vaccine Network, a UK Aid programme to develop vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential in LMICs. Additional co-funding from the EPSRC will leverage impact for the UK. VaxHub Global’s vision is to deliver flexible, easily transferable multi-product platforms and simplified engineering solutions that enable development of low cost, effective and globally deployable vaccines to LMICs. This will be delivered through flexible, easily transferable, multi-product technologies, integrated engineering solutions, including microfluidics, to automate manufacturing and technologies with a simplified regimen, extended shelf life and manufactured with reduced waste.

About the role

A Research Fellow position in Vaccine Bioprocessing is now available. The position, in the UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering, will address the development of one of the vaccine technologies developed within the Hub in collaboration with other PDRAs, namely viral vectored vaccines, glycoconjugates, sub-unit/VLPs and mRNA. The project focuses on understanding the engineering fundamentals underpinning such manufacturing processes to develop a whole process microscale platform for early acquisition of process development data as well as scaling correlations for targeted process steps. The Department of Biochemical Engineering has excellent research facilities including a new bioprocessing suite and a full-scale £25m bioprocessing pilot plant. The post-holder will benefit from bioprocess development expertise and mixing and experimental fluid dynamics from Professor Martina Micheletti’s group.

About you

You will hold a PhD in a relevant discipline (Bio/Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Mechanical Engineering or Bioengineering) and ideally possess experience in one or more of the following areas: vaccine bioprocessing, miniaturization, mixing, fluid dynamics, scale-up and scale-down, rheology. We want to give people opportunity for development and this role is one where we could consider a wide range of different skills and experiences. Whilst all candidates must meet the essential criteria to be shortlisted, we actively encourage candidates who may not meet all of the desirable criteria to apply as we consider these to be areas the successful candidate can grow within the role. For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Martina Micheletti.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits, please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. Our department holds an Athena Swan Gold award in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/