We welcome high-calibre candidates to join the Protein Structure and Mechanism of Disease (PSMD) division at the University of Essex via external Fellowships.

The School of Life Sciences (SLS) at the University of Essex promotes multi-disciplinary research at the interface of structural, cell and computational biology. The PSMD division of the School is a centre of excellence in structural, molecular and computational biology, and our research portfolio encompasses several topics, including (i) gene expression & RNA biology, (ii) protein folding, membranes & trafficking, (iii) microbiology and virology, (iv) ageing, cancer and (v) metalloproteins and blood substitutes.

We are strongly committed to recruiting and supporting the most promising early career scientists who choose to secure a Group Leader Fellowship as their route to develop an academic career in research. Fellows bring novel and original research questions/approaches and new collaborative opportunities. For this reason, at the SLS, we support fellows by fostering a collaborative and supportive environment. External research fellowships available for sponsorship include Wellcome Trust Career Development Award, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, MRC Career Development Award, CRUK Career Development Fellowship, ERC Starting Grant, Royal Society URF, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin, and EPSRC Open Fellowship.

What we offer

We will review applications and provide up to two rounds of constructive feedback. We will assist with the grant costing, and provide the environment statement and supporting letters. Candidates will also be invited to spend a day at the SLS (face-to-face or online). The visit will include giving a seminar (showing the project you plan to do as part of the fellowship), engaging in short meetings with selected group leaders, and/or meeting with the Fellowship Panel. The Fellowship Panel is composed of experts in your filed of research and/or Academics that have been successful in securing fellowships in the past (which will be an opportunity for you to further discuss your application). 

Candidates that are successful in securing a fellowship receive laboratory and office space and access to state-of-the-art equipment and access to research students from a range of PhD programmes (ARIES DTP, Joint Diamond PhD Studentships, and Joint International PhD Programme in Biochemical Pharmacology). We provide bespoke mentoring and continued professional training, with the aim of guaranteeing the success of all Fellows. Importantly, we aim to provide a longer-term commitment for our Fellows after the external funding has come to an end.

Please do not hesitate to write Dr Prischi (fprischi@essex.ac.uk) if you have any question or need more info about establishing collaboration at Essex.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for a fellowship, at least 2 months before the deadline of the fellowship application, send to fprischi@essex.ac.uk:

1) a short CV (2 pages) and the full list of publications (following funding body guidelines);
2) a draft fellowship application (which we will review);
3) and a cover letter explaining how your proposal is suitable for the fellowship scheme(s) you are interested in, a timeline for application(s), and how you see this research programme fitting into the SLS.