Postdoctoral Researcher in Protein Interaction Engineering, Department of Biolgocal Sciences
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Postdoctoral Researcher in Protein Interaction Engineering, Department of Biolgocal Sciences WELCOME Thank you for expressing an interest in the 1823 to give working Londoners and learners role of Postdoctoral Researcher in Protein from non-traditional backgrounds the chance Interaction Engineering at Birkbeck, of a university education, our mission remains University of London. This opportunity comes unchanged as we approach our third century. at an exciting point in Birkbeck’s history, as we approach our 200th anniversary in 2023. Historically, our unique teaching model has attracted an extremely diverse student Birkbeck has always occupied a unique niche population: 65% of our students are part-time in the UK Higher Education landscape and we and 35% full-time; 42% are postgraduates and remain different to other institutions to this 58% undergraduates; the majority are mature day: we are a world-class research and and 41% are from Black and Minority Ethnic teaching institution with a tradition of backgrounds. providing higher education to people in work. Our classes are almost all held in the evening, In recent years, Birkbeck’s full-time, three- so our 13,500 students are free to study, year undergraduate evening degrees have work, volunteer or just do their own thing gained popularity with school leavers. So, during the day. although we are known for educating mature learners, we are now more about attitude Most of Birkbeck’s staff have been working than age. Our students tend to be hard- remotely since late March 2020 to maintain working, independent and highly motivated. the health and safety of staff and students They are recognised and highly valued by during the COVID-19 pandemic. employers for their maturity, independent mindedness, focus and determination. 95% We are aiming to return to our campus in of Birkbeck’s students are in work or further Bloomsbury as soon as it is safe to do so but study six months after graduating. in the meantime, we recreated Birkbeck online, so that students can continue to Birkbeck has five academic schools (Law; Arts; benefit from our unique learning model of Social Sciences, History and research-led evening teaching and flexible Philosophy; Business, Economics and progression routes and study at a world-class, Informatics; and Science), over 40 research research-intensive university. Students can centres and a series of professional service choose to study at a speed which suits them: departments. completing an undergraduate degree in the evenings over three years full-time or four Our campus is in Bloomsbury, the academic years part-time; or a Masters’ degree in either heart of London. one or two years. No other university represents London as With a global reputation for high quality Birkbeck does. Our students are Tube drivers, research and teaching, Birkbeck is part of the fund managers, librarians and care workers. prestigious University of London. Founded in They are doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers, full- time parents and even grandparents. Without Birkbeck many of them simply wouldn’t have access to study. Birkbeck is at the same time a highly international institution, as over 100 different countries are represented within our learning community. Indeed, the latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University rankings place Birkbeck in the top 10% of universities, based on overseas staff, students and research collaborations. Our research is known for being cross- disciplinary, innovative and socially and politically engaged. Our findings inform public policy; push scientific, medical and technological advances; support and grow the economy; promote culture and the arts; and make a positive difference to society. Both our alumni and staff tend to be passionate about the role Birkbeck plays in their lives. Many of our students go on to make an impact on business, the economy and society more broadly and our academic community includes important and eminent figures working alongside early career academics. Birkbeck is a unique, complex institution. If you choose to join us and your application is successful, I look forward to welcoming you to Birkbeck in due course. Best of luck with your application. Professor David Latchman, CBE Vice-Chancellor of Birkbeck ABOUT BIRKBECK In 1823 George Birkbeck founded the London Higher Education World University rankings 2019 Mechanics’ Institute, an avowedly radical placed Birkbeck among the world’s top 400 institution with a vision to open up university universities overall and we are in the top 350 education to working Londoners. Just under a universities in the QS University world rankings. hundred years later, in 1920, Birkbeck College was Philosophy and English at Birkbeck are ranked in incorporated in to the University of London. the world's top 100 according to QS, whilst Today, almost 200 years since it was founded, History, Psychology and Law are all ranked in the Birkbeck remains true to George’s mission, ‘to world's top 150. ensure the universal dissemination of the Birkbeck’s reputation as a world-class research- blessings of knowledge’. intensive institution was cemented by the Research Assessment Framework in 2014. Birkbeck, University of London, is a world-class Birkbeck was 30th in the UK for research, with research and teaching institution, a vibrant centre 73% of our research rated ‘world leading’ or of academic engagement and excellence and ‘internationally excellent’. We are home to over London’s only specialist provider of evening 40 research and specialist institutes and among higher education. Where once we were known the awards our research has won in recent years solely for our part-time courses and mature are the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for excellence students, today we have a wider mix. Of our in higher education at the Centre for Brain current cohort of new undergraduates, just under Function and Development. half are from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and over a third qualify for the This unique combination of ground-breaking College’s generous package of financial support research and innovative teaching provides an for students from lower income backgrounds; inspirational learning experience for our students; students range from school leavers to retired we have consistently ranked in the top five in learners, but the largest group consists of working London for teaching and student satisfaction in Londoners in their 20s and 30s. the National Student Survey. Undergraduates study in the evening for a degree Birkbeck’s main Bloomsbury campus is in the at a pace that suits them, across three, four or six heart of academic London, home to a number of years, with major recent growth coming via the other universities and colleges of the University of three-year UCAS entry route, which has grown London, including University College London and from zero to over 3000 students in the past six the School of Oriental and African Studies. We are years. We are also a major provider of academic situated among beautiful, leafy squares in one of and professional postgraduate education, with the world’s greatest concentrations of libraries, the sixth largest cohort of home and European including the British Library and Senate House postgraduate students in the UK. Like our Library. undergraduate degrees, our Master’s courses are also taught predominantly in the evenings, with one, two and in some areas, three-year pathways, and flexible payment options. We have 13,500 students studying for Certificates of Higher Education, Degrees with Foundation Years, BA/BSc/ and LLB degrees and Master’s degrees across our five schools. We also have hundreds of researchers studying with us and deliver a range of over 180 short courses every year. But while Birkbeck has its roots firmly in London, we are recognised on a global stage. The Times BIRKBECK ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE ABOUT THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT The Biological Sciences Department was created Scattering (DLS/MALS), Biolayer Interferometry, in 2009 from the merger of the School of Microcalorimetry (ITC and DSC), Stopped-Flow Crystallography and the School of Biological and Rapid Kinetics, Thermal Shift Screening and UV, Chemical Sciences Visible and Fluorescence Spectroscopies, to both (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/biology/). The department ISMB members and external users. and its forebears have a long history of pioneering work in applying physical methods to the study of biological systems, since the founding of the Biomolecular Research Laboratory at Birkbeck in 1948 by J. Desmond Bernal and counts among its former members Rosalind Franklin, Aaron Klug, Vernon Ingram, Tom Blundell and Janet Thornton. The department of Biological Sciences, which is one of the core departments of the joint Institute for Structural and Molecular Biology (ISMB) http://www.ismb.lon.ac.uk/ with University College London (UCL) -Birkbeck’s immediate neighbour in central London, continues this tradition. The ISMB has more than 70 research groups and the complimentary strength of the staff and facilities at the two universities means that it is a world leading institute for the investigation of biological molecular mechanism. The ISMB houses several research infrastructures providing shared access to biophysics, crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy (located at Birkbeck) and advanced light microscopy and NMR spectroscopy (at UCL). The ISMB BiophysX Centre based in the Biological Science department provides coherent and supported access to a range of methodologies for the quantitative analysis of proteins and protein complexes in solution and for crystallization. BiophysX provides access to training and use of a wide range of techniques, including Robotic screening, Dynamic and Multi-Angle Light The post is based in the ISMB Protein JOB DESCRIPTION Crystallography and Biophysics Centre at Birkbeck (BiophysX - https://biophysics.ismb.lon.ac.uk/ ). Job title: The work is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Postdoctoral Researcher in Protein Interaction program and will contribute to MOSBRI’s goals of Engineering developing international standards for biophysical experiments, data analysis and sharing.