Are you a PhD student or PDRA and would you like to gain experience of the dynamic environment of a rapidly growing synthetic biology spinout?

The Bristol BioDesign Institute (BBI) has been awarded funding by BBSRC to support six Innovation Placements. These placements will enable early career researchers (ECRs), to gain industrially relevant skills by working in synthetic biology companies.
The awards will cover salary costs for ~ 3 months, travel and subsistence, and other associated costs, up to a value of £20,000.

Placements

The following companies have offered to host placements:

CytoSeek: Cell therapy spin-out company from the University of Bristol (UoB), offering a 3-month placement to develop new tissue-specific cell homing moieties for cell therapies.

Imophoron: Bristol-based synthetic biology start-up company, looking for an ECR to help develop its ADDomer vaccine platform.

Rosa Biotech: Expected incorporation in early 2019, looking for a newly graduated PhD to miniaturise a novel biosensing technology based on nano-scale peptide barrels in Bristol.

Zentraxa: University of Bristol spin-out company, looking for an early career researcher to lead materials testing activities on breakthrough bio-materials.

LabGenius: AI-driven synthetic biology start-up, offering a 3-month placement to develop new tools, models and automation protocols for protein design in London.

OxSyBio: Synthetic biology company offering a 3-month placement for an interdisciplinary PhD in the development of artificial soft tissues using 3D cell printing in Oxford.

Assessment process

Placements within CytoSeek, Imophoron, Rosa Biotech and Zentraxa are open to ECRs from the UK and from EU applicants with eligibility to work in the UK. 

Placements within LabGenius and OxSyBio are open University of Bristol ERCs only.

Placements will be awarded on a competitive basis based on the fit to the following criteria:

1. Training opportunity for the ECR
2. Opportunity to support innovation within the placement company

Eligibility and training opportunity for the ECR will be assessed by the BBI office. Opportunity to support innovation within the placement company will be assessed by the host company.

Once submitted applications have been assessed, host companies may invite interested candidates for a face-to-face or video interview.

Successful candidates should agree placement timetables and budgets with the host companies. All placements must be completed before 31 December 2020.

Application form

innovation placements application form (Office document, 325kB)

Applications must be emailed to: andy.boyce@bristol.ac.uk  by Friday 15 February 2019