Since publishing the adverts for jobs in the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment we have been fielding a number of enquiries about our positions – especially the two sets of Research Fellowships. We will be recruiting a total of 12 of these positions across both institutions with generous start-up packages including a PhD studentship. These positions enable the candidate to develop a research portfolio without the heavy teaching load often associated with Early Career Academics, and with an expectation of a permanent position at the end of five years. 

Because of the broad scope of these positions we have been fielding questions from a range of exciting candidates so we thought it would be helpful to give some general hints and tips about what we will be looking for and what to expect. 

We should also emphasise that we welcome people contacting us directly and are prepared to give specific advice regarding proposals and expectations of the application process. We recommend contacting Gary Black for the VC Fellows and Martyn Dade-Robertson for the NUAcT fellowships.

It is also worth noting that the advice which follows is informal and should not be taken as a replacement for the official documentation.

What are we looking for in a good candidate?

We are recruiting across a range of different field with a diversity of types of applicant. There is no “one size fits all”. However, we are looking for:

Academic Excellence– demonstrated through really high quality research and an exciting research trajectory. 

Most of the applicants for these positions are expected to be early career researchers with PhDs and often some level of Post-Doctoral experience so we don’t expect very long publication lists. Because we are recruiting across a range of disciplines we also recognise that a promising academic track record can look different for different people. Some will benefit from being part of a large research group and have many shared publications. Others will have worked in smaller groups or alone and be producing primarily single author works. Some fields will be focused on high quality journal articles. Other fields will be producing design or other types of creative practice output. All of these things will be taken into account when assessing applications. We are looking for a track record of a significant contribution to research and future leaders in the new field we are creating.

Creativity and an Open Mind– demonstrated through diverse collaborations and evidence of thinking ‘outside the box’.

If you are a bio scientist ask yourself whether you will be comfortable working on a piece of installation art with a designer. If you are a designer would you spend 6 months learning molecular biology in a lab? If the answer to either of those questions is yes then there is a good chance that you will enjoy working with us. We want people who will be open minded and not begin with a fixed view on how research should be done or who will be tribal about their own discipline. We need to see evidence that our Research Fellows will be open to collaboration and embrace multiple perspectives on research.

Pioneering spirit– demonstrated though evidence of an ability to take risks and occasionally work outside their comfort zone.

As we build the hub we will, to some extent be “building the plane and flying in it at the same time”. We will be simultaneously growing a group of 20+ people, building four new facilities and establishing a new field of research. For some this will offer an amazing opportunity to shape their environment and offer new opportunities. Others would be more comfortable with a well-established context and clear position within an academic hierarchy. If you are the latter we are probably not right for you.

Do I need to have a background in both the Built Environment and Biology to apply?

Our themes are deliberately broad and we are interested in people from a wide range of disciplines. There are very few research groups in the world studying biotechnology specifically for the built environment so it is very unusual to find, for example, Biologists who have worked on buildings or Architects who know molecular biology (although if you are one of these we would like to hear from you). More likely we will be recruiting engineers, scientists and designers who have a depth in a particular discipline and would like to apply this specialism to the challenges of constructing and living buildings. We don’t want people who will disappear into their lab/studio/workshop from day one to work on their project in a way which is disconnected from the rest of the Hub. This is where your research proposal becomes very important…

What do I need to consider in my Research Proposal?

As part of the NUAcT application you will need to produce a Research Proposal. For the VC Fellowships you can provide an indication of your research idea in your cover letter and will, if invited to interview, be asked to produce a research proposal. These proposals are our opportunity to get a sense of your research trajectory and your fit to the rest of the Hub. We expect research proposals to have a strong and original research question or to tackle an interesting problem. The proposal may build from work already done and your area of expertise but should move clearly beyond the work you are currently undertaking. They should have the potential to get funding and part of your research plan may include the funding agencies you might apply to (although we recognise that international applicants won’t necessarily be familiar with the UK system). We also expect to see that the proposal has a fit to the HBBE themes or the potential to develop new ones. We especially welcome proposals which will lead to cross discipline collaborations and will utilise the skills and experience of other hub members. Projects which can be directly applied to the experimental house, “The OME”, are especially welcome. Also remember that the shortlisting committee will contain a mixture of people with different expertise so the proposals should be written to be understandable to a non-specialist audience.

And if you have any other questions, please contact us.