Computational Structural Biologist - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

Computational Structural Biologist - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS About Us

The Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics is situated within the School of Basic & Biomedical Sciences (BMBS) and is part of the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. It is involved in a wide range of fundamental research projects at the interface between biology, biomedicine, chemistry and physics.

The Randall has also seen a recent expansion in the area of structural biology, encompassing cryo-EM, molecular simulations, NMR and X-ray crystallography. Structural biology is a rapidly evolving field, particularly in terms of associated software and hardware, and storage space requirements.

In parallel there’s been an expansion of AI-driven structural biology (e.g. Alphafold, prediction of disease mutations, prediction of molecular interactions).

These projects require specialist knowledge to provide access to, maintain and align research datasets, update essential software, aid data security and adherence to funder storage requirements, ensuring governance compliance and proper usage. Structural biologists at KCL have access to the e-Research/CREATE high-performance computing cluster (HPC) (docs.er.kcl.ac.uk) at King’s and associated research data storage (RDS) managed by e-Research.

About the role

As part of their support role, the successful applicant will be responsible for providing training, support and guidance to researchers for all aspects related to computational structural biology.  On behalf of users, the post holder will manage applications to third party computational providers and develop a flexible and interoperable suite of analysis scripts for common applications that are deployable within the KCL compute environment (e.g. e-Research/CREATE) or in third party trusted research environments.

They will also be responsible for developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and ensuring they are being followed and to ensure that data are collected, stored and managed in full compliance with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements (including the General Data Protection Regulation, etc.), as well as all local and research Regulations (Ethics Board Approvals, Database submission, data availability etc.). They will be responsible for coordinating the data management activities within Randall and with the School of BMBS and external entities such as King’s College London IT or information compliance.

The post holder will be based locally with the Randall. e-Research colleagues will provide access and training in both infrastructure deployment and software engineering to maximise the impact of this role and ensure long term skills development.

The post holder will have regular communications with group leaders, senior researchers and other relevant stakeholders (e.g., Facility managers etc.) to ensure support to research. They will ensure that PIs and senior research staff are aware of computing issues which may affect their research programmes. The post holder will work closely with the research teams to ensure that provided solutions meets the needs of the teams.

The post holder will be working on several projects at any one time and will be expected to manage expectations from end users and implement creative time management skills.

The post holder will also be expected to take the lead on department-led funding applications focused on the development of structural biology-focused high-performance data analysis facilities and culture, as well as infrastructure funding; where appropriate the post holder will also lead and/or support similar collaborative efforts more widely across the School, Faculty or College.

This job description reflects the core activities of the role and as the College and the post holder develop there will inevitably be changes in the emphasis of duties. It is expected that the post holder recognises this and adopt a flexible approach to work and be willing to participate in training and to perform any other duties as may be requested from time to time commensurate with grade.

This is a full-time role 35 hours per week, and you will be offered an a fixed term contract for four years from the start date.  The earliest start date is 4th August 2025.

This role will be based on site at all times.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.