The Opportunity:

Where discovery never stops. Be part of something bigger.

Here, you can continue to make a difference in everything around you. Take on new challenges, grow your career, be recognised for your contributions, and benefit from our commitment to your wellbeing. Be part of something bigger — where your work has real impact and your development matters.

Our technical staff are essential to supporting teaching, research, and the smooth operation of our facilities. Whether you're maintaining cutting-edge lab equipment, facilitating ground-breaking research, developing new techniques, or enhancing student and staff experience with top-notch facilities, your work will have a lasting impact that stretches far beyond our academic community.

We are looking for an experienced Research Assistant to become a key part of our newly established group working in the field of plant immunity and the proteins involved in it. You will support research across the whole lab, helping keep our plant materials thriving, our labs running smoothly, and our science moving forward. You will also play a valued role in welcoming and training new lab members. We seek candidates with experience in plant molecular biology laboratory and enjoy the organisational side of research as much as the science itself.

You will join Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences (IMPS) at the University of Edinburgh, which is a vibrant scientific community within an exciting and beautiful city.

A career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:

Opportunities to develop new skills and broaden your experience
Leading-edge research
Flexible/hybrid where the roles allow

This post is full-time (35 hours per week); however, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns.

View the full job description (opens in a new browser tab)

How to apply

Please include the following documents in your application:

CV
Cover letter
Email contacts of two references

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

A competitive salary.
An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.

Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also a Stonewall Proud Employer, actively promoting LGBTQ+ equality.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and particularly encourage applications from underrepresented groups.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab)

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. International applicants will therefore be unable to apply for and secure a Skilled Worker visa. They will only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 5 November 2026.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm UK time. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.

Interviews dates to be confirmed.

About Us

As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.

About the Team

The Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences provides a stimulating environment for studies on a broad range of plant-based topics. IMPS is one of few plant-based research and teaching Institutes within the UK. Our research uses genetics, biochemistry, cell biology and modelling to examine how plants develop, function and evolve. Main research themes include developmental biology, plant cell signalling, speciation and molecular plant pathology.

Research is funded by a diversity of organisations including BBSRC and commercial companies, and is supported by state-of the art facilities; an IMPS research forum facilitates inter-laboratory collaborations. IMPS has close links with SynthSys (the centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology at Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh (RBGE), providing further breadth to our research base. In addition, researchers within IMPS have strong links with the James Hutton Institute.

To find out more visit https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/imps

Research Assistant