Research Technician – Plant Science

About the role

The post is part of a long-standing, dynamic collaboration between UCL (Richard Mott), Rothamsted Research (Frederica Theodoulou) and University of Cambridge (Kathryn Lilley) to understand what causes protein abundance in plants, using the genetics and genomics of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model. You will work in a small, collaborative and innovative multidisciplinary team at UCL and Rothamsted who are committed to scientific excellence.

The main purpose of this position is to grow , plants from multiple accessions and in reproducible biological replicates, in growth chambers under stress conditions, carefully harvest tissues at defined developmental stages, and prepare tissue samples for DNA sequencing with long reads, RNAseq and proteomics. These data will be used to understand how the drivers of protein expression are modulated under environmental stress.

The postholder must be able to pay very careful attention to detail to ensure all plants (approx. , including replicates) are grown and harvested under the same defined conditions, and that tissues are harvested and prepared to avoid technical artefacts. The second purpose of the post is to perform basic data analysis for quality control purposes.

In this role, you would work very closely with a postdoctoral researcher (proteomics) based at Rothamsted Research, therefore, you must be able to travel to and work at both UCL (London main campus) and Rothamsted Research (Harpenden).

This is a fixed-term role from October until June and interviews are scheduled for August . The post is funded by the UKRI-BBSRC. The salary will at Grade 6, within the annualised range £35,-£38, and salary on appointment is subject to experience.

This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Research and Professional Services Staff. Please visit for more information.

This role does not meet the eligibility requirements for a Skilled Worker Visa certificate of sponsorship under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. Therefore, UCL will not be able to sponsor individuals who require right to work in the UK to carry out this role.

A job description and person specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Richard Mott at If you need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online or have any queries about the application process, please contact the HR Administrator, quoting the advert reference in the subject line.

About you

You are a motivated, organized and dependable person who thrives in an interactive, friendly research team. You have a BSc degree or equivalent in either plant sciences, life sciences or molecular biology, or relevant subject area and prior experience working in with Arabidopsis in a research laboratory environment, genetics and plant molecular biology, ideally including DNA and RNA extraction.

The post requires basic data analysis skills in R or Python ( plotting, regression, correlation and t-tests). You must also be able to work collaboratively as part of a team and communicate effectively.

What we offer

The UCL Ways of Working supports colleagues to be successful and happy at UCL through sharing expectations around how we work – please see to find out more.

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)

• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme

• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)

• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan

• Immigration loan

• Relocation scheme for certain posts

• On-Site nursery

• On-site gym

• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay

• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service

• Discounted medical insurance