Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Natural Products Chemistry and Microbial Genomics Full-time

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

This exciting NHMRC Ideas Grant project, undertaken in collaboration with Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), is focused on uncovering new antibiotics from microbial isolates sourced from soil and other diverse ecosystems. By integrating cutting-edge genomics, metabolomics, and biochemical screening, the team aims to identify novel compounds that target bacterial cell wall biosynthesis.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you'll collaborate with leading experts in natural products chemistry, microbial genomics, and bioinformatics. Your role will involve isolating and cultivating microbes under varied conditions, extracting and characterizing novel natural products, and analyzing biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) to uncover their potential for antibiotic production.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Research: Establish a research program, collaborate on research projects, seek and manage research funding, publish in reputable journals and participate in project discussions.

• Undertake the cultivation, isolation, taxonomic characterization and cryopreservation of soil microbes (i.e. bacteria and fungi).

• Undertake the analytical scale cultivation of microbes in a microbioreactor (i.e. MATRIX), and subsequent chemical (i.e. UPLC-DAD-MS and UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS-GNPS) and biological (i.e. antibiotic and cytotoxicity) profiling of microbial solvent extracts, fractions and pure natural products.

• Undertake large scale microbial cultivation to produce, and use semi-preparative and preparative scale chromatography (HPLC, SPE, GEL) to isolate pure bioactive microbial natural products.

• Use spectroscopic (NMR, MS, UV-vis and polarimeter) and chemical analysis to elucidate the structures of microbial natural products.

• Perform genomics analyses, including BGC mining, comparative genomics, and genome assembly.

• Support and contribute to the safe and efficient operations of research group equipment, infrastructure, methodologies and protocols.

• Accurately document all research activities in lab books and specialist databases.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ's Criteria for Academic Performance.

The successful candidate may be required to complete a number of pre-employment checks, including: right to work in Australia, education check.

Employer sponsored work rights are not available for this appointment; applications from international candidates will be considered but must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment and would be expected to seek their own appropriate work visa in order to progress.