Senior Research Scientist

Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK and the Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center

About the University of Nizwa 

The University of Nizwa is the second top University in the Sultanate of Oman and the first among the private Universities in research. It is a non-profit academic institution governed by its faculty. Its purpose is to broadly educate students and equip them with values, knowledge and life skills needed to enrich their lives and enable them to meaningfully contribute to the progress of society. 

Job Responsibilities:

The potential candidate will be expected to discover and engineer new biosynthetic pathways to β-lactam antibiotics.

The project will focus mainly on pathways to β-lactams. New approaches will be developed for engineering of β-lactam biosynthesis to produce new types of β-lactams inaccessible by synthesis and thereby reducing the cost of known β-lactamase antibiotics. The project will apply cutting edge biophysical and cell biology techniques to define fundamental gaps in our knowledge in β-lactamase biosynthesis, e.g. the structure and mechanism of key enzymes in penicillin, cephalosporin, clavam, and carbapenem biosynthesis; (ii) apply the new and existing knowledge to illustrate how biosynthetic enzymes can be combined with advanced organic synthesis to generate new generations of β-lactam and related antibiotics and (iii) explore the isolation of novel β-lactam related natural products from microorganisms present in Oman.

The candidate is expected to carryout out experiments, analyze data, prepare presentations, and manuscripts.

Job Requirements:

• PhD in synthetic or molecular biology with focused scientific discipline relevant to synthetic biology from reputable University.
• At least 5 years’ experience in synthesis, cell biology, omics, biophysics, chemical biology, and microbiology.
• Skills in writing research papers, proof reading and editing of manuscripts.
• Skills in funds raising and research proposals writing.
• Strong English language skills.
• Ability to work in a team.

Specific Objectives:

• Penicillin biosynthesis studies and engineering.
• Engineering cephalosporin biosynthesis.
• Understanding the latter stages of carbapenem and clavam biosynthesis.
• Identifying new β-lactam producing strains in Oman.

Applicants should submit a formal application letter, curriculum vitae, educational and experience certificates (including reference contact information), letter of experience, electronically through the following email: recruit.researcher@unizwa.edu.om 

Please note: To include the Position code in the subject of the email.