The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) is dedicated to translating scientific discoveries into real-world solutions through innovation, collaboration, and advanced technology. Research activities focus on four major global challenge areas: Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology, Food Security & Sustainable, Agriculture, Climate Change & CO₂ Management, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics.
EIT brings together scientists, engineers, researchers, technologists, and innovators to develop scalable solutions that address humanity’s greatest challenges. Science Careers
Plant Biology Institute:
The Plant Biology Institute at EIT Oxford, led by Professor Steve Kelly, aims to develop impactful and commercially sustainable solutions for improving global food production and planetary health through pioneering plant science research.
The institute focuses on:
- Improving plant productivity in controlled and – outdoor environments
- Reducing dependence on water, fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides
- Developing sustainable plant-based platforms for food and medicine production
- Applying advanced technologies to accelerate plant discovery and deployment
- Researchers will have access to advanced laboratories, plant growth facilities, AI-driven technologies, automation platforms, and opportunities to collaborate with global experts in plant science and biotechnology.
Position Overview
- Applications are invited for a Research Associate position within the Crop Transformation Pipeline team.
- The successful candidate will support high-throughput plant transformation activities, ensuring reliable production of edited and transgenic plants across target crops.
The role will focus on:
- High-throughput transformation workflows
- Tissue culture and plant regeneration
- Development of reproducible transformation pipelines
- Delivery of high-quality gene-edited and transgenic plant materials
Key Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will be responsible for:
- Performing crop transformation, tissue culture, regeneration, and plant recovery procedures
- Maintaining culture quality, preparing media, and following sterile laboratory practices
- Managing experiments using LIMS and digital tracking systems
Supporting optimisation studies and troubleshooting activities - Improving transformation efficiency and scaling laboratory workflows
- Maintaining accurate documentation, records, and laboratory inventory
- Developing and standardising SOPs according to GLP and Quality
- Management System (QMS) standards
Training and mentoring laboratory technicians - Collaborating with interdisciplinary teams in plant science, AI, automation, and generative biology
- Presenting research findings in seminars and scientific meetings
- Supporting scientific publications, commercial development, and intellectual property activities
Required Qualifications and Experience
Candidates should have:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with substantial hands-on experience in plant tissue culture and transformation
Experience in experimental planning, monitoring, documentation, and reporting - Strong troubleshooting and optimisation skills in tissue culture systems
Ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary research environments - Excellent communication, problem-solving, and scientific writing skills
Desirable Skills
Additional experience in:
- Multiple crop transformation systems
- GLP and quality management systems
- Design of experiments (DOE) and statistical analysis
- Crop biotechnology and molecular breeding approaches
Benefits:
The position offers:
- Competitive salary based on experience
- Travel allowance and bonus opportunities
- Enhanced annual leave with additional holiday purchase options
- Pension scheme
- Life assurance and income protection
- Private medical insurance
- Therapy services and wellbeing support
- Electric vehicle scheme and childcare benefits
What EIT Offers
- Successful candidates will join a state-of-the-art research environment with:
- Advanced plant laboratories and growth facilities
- A highly collaborative team working at the forefront of plant biotechnology
- Opportunities for publications, conferences, leadership development, and innovation
- Opportunities to contribute to sustainable agriculture and global food security solutions
Application Deadline: 28 July 2026
Location: Oxford, United Kingdom
Field: Plant Biology | Crop Transformation | Agricultural Biotechnology
