Salary: Research Assistant: £33,002 to £34,610 per annum
Research Associate: £35,608 to £46.049 per annum
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 24 September 2025
The Role
This is an exciting opportunity an enthusiastic researcher to join the Musculoskeletal Research Group, as we deliver world-class translational research in immune-mediated rheumatic diseases. Your role will combine wet lab immunology work and bioinformatics to study the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis to aid in the development of new therapies and novel biomarkers.
You will already have knowledge and experience of studying the immunobiology of rheumatoid arthritis, including competence in wet laboratory techniques such as advanced tissue culture work, multiplex cytokine analysis, and advanced flow cytometry. You will also have experience of high dimensional data analysis, including the ability to independently program in the R computing language.
Please note that if you are successful in the role, you will require pre-placement checks before you can commence in the role.
The post is full time, fixed term until 30/06/2026.
If you have any questions, please reach out to # Accountabilities
-Although working under the general guidance of an academic or Principal Investigator, the postholder will contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of their studies, thus providing substantial 'added value'
-Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques and equipment as outlined in the personal requirements
-Determine appropriate methodologies for research, with advice and support where required
-Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and in time develop own research objectives and proposals for funding
-Begin to write, with appropriate support, proposals for individual research funding or, where funders do not permit this, contribute to the writing of collective bids
-Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations
-Contribute to the writing up of their research for publication and dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications
-Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
-May be involved in the supervision, with guidance, of final year undergraduate research projects and in providing support to postgraduate research students or Research Assistants
-Will need to work with the support staff and, on occasions, with undergraduate and postgraduate students, and interact intellectually with other academic members of the Institute
-May contribute to events celebrating the public engagement of science/social sciences/humanities
-Develop an awareness of University structures, policies and procedures and relevant issues in the higher education, research, social and political environment
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
-Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills
-Detailed subject knowledge in the area of research
-Likelihood of advanced skills directly related to the research projects
-High level of analytical and problem-solving capability
-Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and to encourage the commitment of others
-Experience of research with clear transferable skills and some experience or awareness of the research environment
-Presentations at conferences and/or high-quality publications
-Extensive experience in processing, storage, and use of human clinical trial samples, and the regulations and practices pertaining to this
-Extensive experience in the development of standard operating procedures for the use in clinical trials
-Extensive experience in advanced tissue culture work, with a particular focus on B cell isolation, migration, activation and co-culture with other relevant cell types in 2D and 3D culture systems
-Extensive experience of isolating and culturing synovial fibroblasts, as well as developing immune assays incorporating these cells
-Extensive experience in the use of live cell imaging, including use of the IncuCyte system
-Extensive experience in development and application of multi-parameter flow cytometry for immunophenotyping, including experience with spectral flow cytometry
-Extensive experience in multiplex cytokine analysis
-Ability to independently create R programming computer scripts for multidimensional data analysis, including single cell RNA-seq analysis using the CellChat R package
Desirable
-Knowledge of immunology and rheumatology
-Experience with angiogenesis assays
Attributes and Behaviour
-Ability to work independently and as part of a team
-Capacity for original thought
-Ability to communicate effectively to scientific audiences
Desirable
-Curious to better understand the workings of the human immune system
-Interests in rheumatic disease
Qualifications
-A PhD in immunology or rheumatology (Awarded for Associate, Imminent for Assistant)
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 28459
