Scientist

The Institute brings together researchers in life and physical sciences, and engineering, to develop a spectrum of tools which we will use to image, interpret and intervene in biological systems. These insights will speed up the discovery of new medicines, help find new diagnostics and contribute to a deeper understanding of human health and disease. Our Science Strategy seeks to focus the Franklin’s research and unite our researchers around our Technology Innovation Challenges and Life Science Challenges. For more information on the Franklin’s Challenges click here.

Within Quantitative Biology Across Scales (QBAS) Challenge, you will develop and integrate correlative, multiscale imaging workflows that connect tissue organisation and cellular ultrastructure with molecular structure. These workflows span biological and cryogenic sample preparation, multimodal data acquisition, sample tracking and registration across scales, and data processing, with feedback between biological interpretation, analysis and acquisition to improve robustness, relevance and throughput.

QBAS combines advanced imaging, quantitative analysis and AI to link information from cells, tissues and organs, with a major focus on women’s health. Our primary biological focus is on complex women’s health issues that require multidisciplinary approaches and collaboration across multiple teams. One of our key areas is supporting clinicians in better understanding and characterising reproductive and maternal health, with specific interest in complication during late pregnancy, endometriosis and impact of STD on fertility.

We are looking for an outstanding, curious and collaborative scientist who can help bridge technology development and important biological questions. We welcome candidates from either of two complementary backgrounds: You may be a technology-development scientist with expertise in cryogenic imaging and relevant data processing with a strong motivation to apply and adapt these approaches to women’s health. Alternatively, you may be a leading cellular biologist with expertise in reproductive and maternal health with an excellent understanding of the relevant clinical context and a strong drive to develop and exploit new imaging technologies.

For candidates from a biological background, experience with human tissue, clinically characterised samples or cohorts, pathology, or close interaction with clinical teams would be particularly valuable. You should be able to identify the biological and clinical questions that matter and help translate them into experimentally tractable projects. For candidates from a technology background, deep expertise in advanced imaging or instrumentation and the ability to develop, optimise and integrate new workflows will be particularly important.

In both cases, the role will require a strong interest in working across disciplines and developing expertise beyond your original field. You will work closely with biologists, clinicians, microscopists, engineers and computational scientists to ensure that technology development is driven by meaningful biological questions, while biological studies take full advantage of the advanced technologies available at the Franklin.

As a Scientist at the Franklin, you will demonstrate prior experience in leading an area of research or technology development, based on established expertise. You will grow a national reputation in a relevant area of research/technology by leading a project or Challenge area and contribute substantively to these and deliver outputs of value to the Franklin. You will contribute to the development of the Franklin science strategy, supervising students and post docs, making contributions to management of the Franklin and championing a collegial, open science environment. You will be able to demonstrate an ability to obtain external funding or new technology collaborations.

You will lead scientific projects within QBAS that bring together important questions in the field of reproductive and maternal health with the development and application of advanced imaging technologies. Depending on your background, you will bring either deep expertise in advanced imaging, in situ structural biology or technology development, or deep biological expertise in the understanding of endometriosis, placenta biology or long-term consequences of infections.

You will work across the interface between biology and technology, helping to define the questions, samples and measurements needed to address clinically relevant problems and translating these into ambitious experimental programmes. This will involve developing and integrating new imaging workflows and bring the biological and clinical insight required to ensure that technology development addresses meaningful questions and is applied to the right models, tissues and patient-derived material.

You will work closely with biologists, clinicians, microscopists, engineers and computational scientists across techniques including volumetric and correlative imaging, X-ray imaging, cryogenic sample preparation, cryo-FIB/SEM and cryo-electron microscopy, together with quantitative image analysis and AI. You will lead the delivery, interpretation and publication of the work, develop external collaborations and funding opportunities, and help translate successful approaches into robust workflows, protocols and capabilities for the wider Franklin community.

Key Responsibilities

Within QBAS, you will take responsibility for connecting biological and clinical questions with technology development. You will help define scientifically and clinically meaningful projects, establish the appropriate biological models and samples, develop and apply the technologies required to interrogate them, and work with multidisciplinary teams to interpret the resulting data across scales.

As a Scientist you will:

• Plan, contribute towards funding, managing and delivery of science projects or a Challenge.
• Lead in the delivery of outputs (e.g. research report, patent application) in a scientific/technology area of interest.
• Lead on a project but may also work as part of a team on specific projects, providing a well-recognised, independently important aspect of science, technology or understanding.
• Independently develop new concepts, methods and ways of working to supportive realisation of innovative concepts or impact.
• Challenge the status quo in thinking within and across disciplines.
• Synthesise new and complex information from diverse sources, make sound judgements based on this evidence and take a role in leading change.
• Contribute to projects, outputs as well as of increasing output from own projects/concepts.
• Build your wider network, participate in external conferences, where platform presentation should be offered with increasing frequency.
• Be an active member of the Franklin community.
• Represent views at internal committees and represent the Franklin at external and internal events (e.g. career fairs, scientific networking) as well as panels (e.g. funder board)
• Supervise and train Research Associates and students, support their career development, encourage others to develop their area of interest.
• Understand how to apply for grants and demonstrate this understanding through successful competition for external grants, major fellowships or building new technology collaborations and partnerships.
• Ensure that all research is carried out with high level of integrity and ethical standards.

Before submitting your application please ensure you read the Job Information Pack for full details of this role on our website.

This job description sets out the skills and experience we believe are needed to be able to do this job but, research also tells us women are much more likely than men to take this list of requirements as absolute and self-select out of the process. If you think you can deliver this role then we want to hear from you, regardless of the boxes you did not tick.

In return we offer:

• 25 days holidays plus bank holidays and Christmas holiday shutdown
• Generous pension scheme (employer’s contribution currently up to 18%)
• Group Life Assurance (also known as Group Life Insurance or Death in Service)
• Buying and Selling Annual Leave
• Workplace Nursery Salary Sacrifice Scheme
• Hub building with state-of-the-art laboratories
• Hybrid and flexible working
• Training and development opportunities for staff at all levels
• Bus pass discount scheme and good transport links to Oxford and surrounding areas
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Access to employee discount platform (Perkbox)
• Occupational Health and wellbeing support including Employee Assistance (24/7 support and counselling)
• Health Cash Plan
• Subsidised canteen and food outlets on campus
• Free on-site parking
• Campus location in beautiful countryside with social and sports clubs open to staff

The Franklin’s underlying aim is to produce the best science for research today, and this means resolutely embracing a diverse team, who have a wide range of experiences, skills and knowledge to push forward on the innovative work our institution delivers. Both our work and our institution are better for it. For further information, view our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every applicant has an equal opportunity to showcase their talents and abilities. This includes making adjustments for candidates with specific needs. Please contact us at recruitment@rfi.ac.uk to discuss your requirements confidentially.

At the Rosalind Franklin Institute we also welcome applications from all around the world!

How to Apply

To be considered for this role, please upload a CV and cover letter explaining why you think you are the right person for this job. The link to apply is provided at the bottom of this page.

Closing date: The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 1st November 2026.

Interviews are planned for w/c 23rd November 2026.