Lecturer positions at the University of Sheffield

Ranking 4^th in the recent Research Excellence Framework, the School of Biosciences is one of the broadest groupings of biologists in the UK, with our research and teaching spanning the full range of bioscience disciplines. Following a review of research strategy, we are looking to recruit a number of lecturers. We will appoint excellent researchers and teachers, and have identified the following priority areas:

• Food Security: Sustainably feeding the global population in 2050 will require transformational change to increase food production without further damaging climate or soil. New discoveries in our fundamental knowledge of plant molecular and physiological function (e.g. improving photosynthesis) in model organisms have potential for translation into exciting strategies for improving the production, protection and efficiency of future crops, contributing to climate-smart agriculture.
• Antimicrobial Resistance:  Ever increasing resistance to antibiotics is one of the greatest threats facing humanity in this century. No new classes of antibiotics have been developed for many years creating the looming spectre of a ‘post-antibiotic world’. AMR emerges from basic bacterial physiology and transcends from fundamental studies to the clinic. Understanding mechanisms of resistance and developing new antimicrobials is thus key to tackling this urgent global challenge.
• Biodiversity: Global land-use change drives the extinction crisis via deforestation and degradation (e.g. selective logging), but also has the potential to reverse extinction risk via habitat restoration. A key question in this scientific area is how to upscale field-based scientific understanding from the local level to make global-scale projections using advances in data science, modelling or molecular biology.
• Understanding the rules of life: Understanding how tissues and organs are formed in the developing embryo, and unlocking their potential for repair following disease, injury or ageing, are crucial to promoting a healthy lifespan. It is increasingly clear that many molecules and signalling pathways within our bodies detect and respond to mechanical changes in cell and tissue properties. The burgeoning area of mechanobiology has broad relevance for tackling key questions in developmental and cell biology, regeneration and stem cells, and the neurophysiology of sensory systems.
• Omics approaches to understanding disease and development:  Changes in gene expression and the resulting alterations in RNA, protein and metabolite profiles are core drivers of tissue specialization, diseases such as cancer, and processes such as stem cell differentiation, regeneration and ageing. Recent advances in omics technologies and the computational methods that underpin them allow these processes to be understood in greater detail than ever before. This allows accurate detection and prediction of changes at the level of individual cells, opening new opportunities to understand processes key to health and disease.

We are prioritising these areas, however would be glad to consider anyone with a research portfolio that fits within the scope of research in Biosciences in Sheffield. Further details of our research are available here.

We’re one of the best not-for-profit organisations to work for in the UK. The University’s Total Reward Package includes a competitive salary, a generous Pension Scheme and annual leave entitlement, as well as access to a range of learning and development courses to support your personal and professional development.

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.

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