Postdoctoral Fellow at The Francis Crick Institute

Much of our past work has used purified proteins from budding yeast.  We have recently reconstituted the loading of the MCM double hexamer onto DNA using purified human proteins.  This opens the door to explore a new system, highly relevant for human health. The purpose of this role will be to use these loaded MCM double hexamers as a starting point to reconstitute the initiation of replication with purified human proteins.  

In this project, some of the specific aims include but are not limited to:

• Establishment of the MCM loading reaction
• Purification of the firing factors involved in initiating replication
• Use of these factors to establish replication initiation, using a deliberate, stepwise approach
• Collaborate to identify and characterise intermediates in this reaction using cryo-EM
• Characterise the essential CDK and DDK phosphorylation events in this process

The Diffley lab strives to foster an environment that welcomes, includes, and values people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We provide all Postdoctoral Fellows with the support, space, and resources they need to pursue their goals and place and emphasis on furthering their careers. They will lead their own projects, contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis (both in the lab and with external collaborators). The ability to work in a team is essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Undertake academic research and develop projects in a timely manner
• Maintain clear records of all experiments in electronic format
• Contribute ideas to the research programme
• Adapt existing and develop new scientific techniques and experimental protocols
• Use specialist scientific equipment in a laboratory environment
• Acquire, analyse, and review scientific data to test and refine working hypotheses
• Provide guidance and training to less experienced members of the research group
• Contribute to the preparation of scientific reports and journal articles 

About us

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under in one building in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; public engagement; and helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy. 

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please apply via our website.
• The closing date for applications is 30.09.2023
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.