Are you planning to submit a senior research fellowship* application for funding competitions with deadlines after March 2026?

The Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge seeks Expressions of Interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for externally funded fellowships that will allow them to start an independent research group in our Department.

We offer a programme of support that will help you to establish you as an independent academic researcher, including assistance with your fellowship application, setting up your lab and recruiting personnel, as well as mentoring and training to help you develop your career. Research fellows will also have access to the comprehensive package of ongoing support available from the School of Biological Sciences https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/research/research-fellowships.

We have an excellent track record in progressing our Senior Research Fellows into lectureships or equivalent positions at leading international universities and research institutes.

About the Department of Zoology

We are a thriving community of researchers investigating how animal life evolved, how it functions and persists today and how we can conserve it for future generations. The Department comprises more than 25 research groups, working at every level of biological organization from genes to ecosystems. We are keen to increase diversity in our academic staff and particularly encourage expressions of interest from women and BAME applicants.

Our dynamic intellectual environment includes the world-leading Cambridge Conservation Institute and University Museum of Zoology, and provides opportunities for collaboration in research themes that span the School of Biological Sciences (https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/research/research-themes) and the wider university (https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/research-at-cambridge/strategic-research-initiatives-networks).

The School of Biological Sciences has state of the art facilities in imaging, high performance computing and bioinformatics. The Department's research strengths currently lie in behaviour and neuroscience, conservation science, ecology and all aspects of evolutionary biology.

How to apply for sponsorship

Please address informal enquires to the Head of Department Professor Rebecca Kilner hod@zoo.cam.ac.uk

To make an application, please download and complete the very short application form (https://shorturl.at/3KpGp) and send it with your publications list and contact details for two referees to admin@zoo.cam.ac.uk by 17:00 GMT on Sunday 9th November 2025. We will only contact you, and your referees, if you are shortlisted.

We will shortlist the fellowship applicants we would like to support by Monday 8th December 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the Department to meet the academic staff and give a seminar in the week beginning 12 January 2026.

*Target fellowship schemes include: ERC Starting / Consolidator Grant, The Wellcome Trust Career Development Awards, Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, Branco-Weiss Research Fellowship.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46494 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Are you excited by the mechanisms of neurotransmission and behaviour and looking for a new opportunity? We are looking for an enthusiastic, inquisitive and motivated post-doctoral researcher to join the team in the Hardege lab in the Department of Zoology (https://www.hardege-lab.com/). The lab aims to understand how the function and diversity of neurotransmitter receptors is used to generate complex behaviours, including learning, in the small invertebrate model organism C. elegans.

We have recently discovered a range of novel dopamine receptors in C. elegans and found that different receptors are often expressed within a single neuron. This BBSRC-funded project aims to understand the interplay between excitatory and inhibitory metabotropic and ionotropic dopamine receptors and how they contribute to the regulation of complex behaviours.

This will involve a range of techniques including high resolution confocal microscopy to determine receptor localisation, behavioural analysis of C. elegans and computational modelling of the C. elegans neural network. The lab also uses Two Electrode Voltage Clamp (TEVC) electrophysiology and molecular biology techniques to characterise receptors. There are a broad range of training opportunities available, and you will also have the opportunity to mentor other lab members, attend scientific meetings and get involved in public engagement activities.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant area (or be close to completion) and a good understanding of neurotransmission and behaviour. We welcome applicants with experience in some of the following areas and with a desire to learn others: molecular biology, C. elegans or other model organism research, confocal imaging, computational analysis, preferably in python and electrophysiology. We are also looking for someone who enjoys working both independently and collaboratively, values a supportive lab environment and possesses good communication and organisational skills.

This is an onsite post. We have funding available for a full-time 3-year contract, with a flexible start date starting from September 2025.

Please include a CV and cover letter (max. 2 pages) explaining why this role interests you and how your experience aligns with the candidate profile in the further particulars document

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Dr Iris Hardege (ih287@cam.ac.uk).

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for up to 3 years.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46470 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

The Centre for Pathogen Evolution (CPE) at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge invites applications for a Research Assistant to a project on evolutionarily smart SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. It is an exciting opportunity for an experienced data scientist to support and maintain the national and international reputation for excellence in research of the CPE.

The research focus of the group is to design and develop analytical, computational, and mathematical methods to understand the fundamental processes that govern the evolution of antigenically variable viruses. Our research is highly interdisciplinary, involving global collaboration with experimental virologists and clinicians to quantify the selection pressures on SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses to better understand their evolutionary dynamics, and to inform control strategies.

The appointment, which is funded by UKRI, is for a period of 18 months starting in July 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience for the Role:

• Masters in Natural Sciences, Medicine or related area
• Experience with evaluation of clinical trials or experimental medicine
• Experience with mathematical modelling
• Experience of software development
• Proficiency in complex data analysis
• Knowledge and experience with R, Python, MATLAB
• Familiarity with statistics methods, large data sets and data visualization
• Ambition, drive, strong work ethic, and good interpersonal skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• The ability to organise time and work effectively, independently and responsibly in a research team setting
• Enthusiasm to interact with colleagues in a multi-disciplinary and collaborative environment

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for up to 18 months.

Applications are welcome from internal candidates who would like to apply for the role on the basis of a secondment from their current role in the University.

Flexible working requests will be considered

We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our University.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46340 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

About Us:

The role is based in the Conservation Science Group in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. There, led by Professor Andrew Balmford, research is underway centred around the impact of food on the natural environment: how can we feed a growing human population at the least cost to people and nature? This is a broad question and so the research covers a wide range of topics, including species population modelling, the biodiversity and greenhouse gas impacts of meals served in a hospital, through to the effect of package size on purchasing habits and food waste. We are looking for a motivated individual to work on a number of these topics. If you have experience in coding, strong critical thinking skills, and a passion for preserving the planet, we would love to hear from you.

The role:

As a Research Assistant, you will join the Conservation Science Group and the Mandala project (www.mandala-consortium.org) to work primarily on methods for assessing the sustainability of food and applying them to real-world data. Working closely with the team behind 'LIFE' - a state-of-the-art biodiversity assessment method, and with access to an exciting novel dataset on the food purchasing habits of 2000 households in the UK, this work has the potential for substantial impact in policy and the scientific literature. Work will include helping to develop a pipeline to estimate the impacts of individual food products and applying them to food purchasing data to explore the demographic drivers of consumption impacts. Work may also include contributing to a global standard of food impact assessments. Potential aspects of this role are broad, but might include a review of existing approaches to assessing the impacts of agricultural products, data manipulation - bringing together several data sources, developing code to automate procedures, carrying out statistical analyses and presenting results in various formats.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Relevant degree (Bachelors or Masters) in a quantitative / analytical subject.
• Experience in computer programming, particularly in the context of data manipulation and analysis using a language such as Python.
• Experience in working with large datasets programmatically.
• Statistical analysis and scientific writing skills.
• Organisational and time management skills.
• Ability to communicate research findings clearly in oral and written formats to collaborators and other members of the group

Desirable skills and knowledge - Experience working in a professional environment. - An understanding of the principles of reproducible scientific methods (e.g. version control, open access data and code).

For informal enquires, please contact Dr Thomas Ball at tsb42@cam.ac.uk.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available up until 21 March 2026 2026 with a possibility of extension.

Applications are welcome from internal candidates who would like to apply for the role on the basis of a secondment from their current role in the University.

Flexible working requests will be considered.

We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our University.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46284 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.