Job Description

Ref Number

B04-06479

Professional Expertise

Research and Research Support

Department

UCL BEAMS (B04)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Full time

Salary

43,981-52,586

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Working Type

On site

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

14-Sep-2025

About us

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This position is a key part of the Vaccines Manufacturing Hub for LMICs (VaxHub Global), led by UCL Biochemical Engineering and the University of Oxford with a number of academic and industrial partners. VaxHub Global is funded with a 10M grant from the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) and managed by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as part of the UK Vaccine Network, a UK Aid programme to develop vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential in LMICs. Additional co-funding from the EPSRC is provided to leverage impact for the UK. VaxHub Global builds on the success of Vax-Hub 1, which was originally formed in 2018 with a grant from the DHSC and has played a critical role in making the UK the global centre for vaccine discovery, development and manufacture. Most prominently, Vax-Hub 1 research underpinned the development of the ChAdOx-1 nCoV-19 vaccine, subsequently licensed to AstraZeneca, with direct benefit to over 180 countries worldwide, including the UK. The vision for VaxHub Global is to deliver flexible, easily transferable multi-product platforms and simplified engineering solutions that enable development of low cost, effective and globally deployable vaccines to LMICs. This will be delivered through flexible, easily transferable, multi-product technologies, integrated engineering solutions, including microfluidics, to automate manufacturing and technologies with a simplified regimen, extended shelf life and manufactured with reduced waste.

About the role

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A new Research Fellow position in Vaccine Bioprocessing is now available. The position, based in the UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering will address the development of one of the vaccine technologies developed within the Hub in collaboration with other PDRAs, namely viral vectored vaccines, glycoconjugates, sub-unit/VLPs and mRNA. Ultimately the developed platform will allow rapid execution of the experimentation, with minimal amount of volume and reduced waste via the adoption of advanced Design of Experiments approaches and robust scaling equations to support accurate validation. The project focuses on understanding the engineering fundamentals underpinning such manufacturing processes to develop a whole process microscale platform for early acquisition of process development data as well as scaling correlations for targeted process steps. The postholder will be one of a team of UCL-based researchers working as part of VaxHub Global, as well as several academic and industrial collaborators. The UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering has excellent research facilities including a new bioprocessing suite of vaccines-dedicated laboratories and a full-scale 25m bioprocessing pilot plant. The post holder will also benefit from bioprocess development expertise and mixing and experimental fluid dynamics from Professor Martina Micheletti's group. There will be a high degree of interaction with UCL colleagues and industrial partners so excellent team-working and communication skills will be required. The post holder will be responsible for undertaking original experimental research, reporting on project progress and the preparation and submission of research papers arising from these and related studies.

About you

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You will hold a PhD in a relevant discipline (Bio/Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Mechanical Engineering or Bioengineering) and ideally possess experience in one or more of the following areas: vaccine bioprocessing, miniaturization, mixing, fluid dynamics, scale-up and scale-down, rheology. We want to give people opportunity for development and this role is one where we could consider a wide range of different skills and experiences. Whilst all candidates must meet the essential criteria in order to be shortlisted, we actively encourage candidates who may not meet all of the desirable criteria to apply as we consider these to be areas the successful candidate can grow within the role. For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Martina Micheletti (m.micheletti@ucl.ac.uk)

What we offer

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As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below: o 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) o Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme o Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) o Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan o Immigration loan o Relocation scheme for certain posts o On-Site nursery o On-site gym o Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay o Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service o Discounted medical insurance Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more. Further Details: A job description and person specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. Our department holds an Athena Swan Gold award in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/