Senior Research Technician
| Posting date: | 13 May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,605 to £36,024 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 12 June 2024 |
| Location: | Durham, County Durham, DH1 3LE |
| Company: | Durham University |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: | 24000739_1715613872 |
Summary
The Role and the Department
A laboratory technician post (Grade 6) is available for 2 years (full time, but with the option for flexible working hours) in the laboratory of Professor Keith Lindsey, Department of Biosciences, Durham University to work on a multidisciplinary industrial biotechnology and bioengineering project on environmental processing and recovery of metals.
The world in 2040 is expected to need 4 times as many critical minerals/metals for clean energy technologies as it does today. To achieve this goal, it is clear that environmental processing and recovery of minerals and metals will play a critical strategic role not only in sustainable resource management but also in waste reduction, pollution prevention, and the transition towards a more circular and environmentally conscious economy. This project unites specialists from across the UK who possess knowledge in essential technologies related to bio-extraction and bio-recovery of metals. We will collaborate to establish an open knowledge Hub aimed at enhancing ongoing projects of engineered organisms at various technology readiness levels that tackle important environmental issues associated with mineral extraction, urban mining, industrial waste, and legacy nuclear waste. The Engineering Biology Hub aims to provide a powerful suite of engineering biology tools and approaches that represent sustainable and efficient solutions to address many of the environmental challenges concerning metal waste and metal-scarcity.
The technician will support this project through the functional characterization of bacterially biorecovered copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). Bio-synthesised CuNPs represent a potential application of biorecovery, as part of a circular economy approach to reduce the need for newly extracted copper and chemical processes for NP synthesis. We will 1) test the ability of biosynthesised CuNPs (using Shewanella oneidensis) to replicate the effects of chemically synthesised CuNPs on plant root growth (a bioassay for CuNP functionality), and 2) use CuNPs from engineered S. oneidensis, optimised for NP production. This £12 M project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, links with a second large project with the water industry, to develop methodologies to prevent tree root ingress into built structures, and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with team members both within Durham and also in other participating UK Universities.
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