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Job description and selection criteria
Job title
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Division
Medical Sciences
Department
Oncology
Location
CR-UK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology & Biology
Grade and salary
Grade 7: £29,249 - £35,938 p.a.
Hours
Full-time
Contract type
Fixed-term for two years in the first instance
Reporting to
Vacancy reference
Dr Madalena Tarsounas
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Introduction
The University
The University of Oxford is a complex and stimulating organisation, which enjoys an
international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence in research and teaching. It
employs over 10,000 staff and has a student population of over 21,000.
Most staff are directly appointed and managed by one of the University’s 130 departments or
other units within a highly devolved operational structure. Our annual income in 2009/10 was
£879.8m. Oxford is one of Europe's most innovative and entrepreneurial universities: income
from external research contracts exceeds £367m p.a., and more than 60 spin-off companies
have been created.
For more information please visit www.ox.ac.uk
Medical Sciences Division
The Medical Sciences Division is an internationally recognized centre of excellence for
biomedical and clinical research and teaching. We are the largest academic division in the
University of Oxford.
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World-leading programmes, housed in state-of-the-art facilities, cover the full range of
scientific endeavour from the molecule to the population. With our NHS partners we also
foster the highest possible standards in patient care.
For more information please visit: http://www.ox.ac.uk/divisions/medical_sciences.html
Oncology Department
The Department of Oncology within the Medical Sciences Division was created in October
2010, under the headship of Professor Gillies McKenna. The aims of the Department include
the development of truly multidisciplinary and collaborative oncology research in Oxford.
Working closely with colleagues in the new state-of-the-art NHS Oxford Cancer Centre,
research can be rapidly and efficiently translated into cutting-edge clinical treatment for
cancer patients.
The Department incorporates the Cancer Research UK-MRC Gray Institute for Radiation
Oncology and Biology, as well as a number of internationally recognised research groups
working in oncology and related fields. Currently the Department has activities on four sites
in Oxford these are the Old Road Campus Research Building, the Weatherall Institute of
Molecular Medicine, the Radiobiology Research Institute, and in the Oxford Cancer Hospital.
The University of Oxford, Department of Oncology has over 300 staff and more than 120
graduate students, and is one of the largest departments in the Medical Sciences Division.
The Department of Oncology also hosts the CR-UK Cancer Research Centre and the
EPSRC/CR-UK-funded Oxford Cancer Imaging Centre.
For more information please visit: http://www.oncology.ox.ac.uk
The Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology
The CRUK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology was established in 2008
with the purpose of creating a centre of excellence for radiation research in the UK. The
research facilities of the Gray Institute are on the Old Road Campus, adjacent to the Oxford
University Hospitals Trust main Cancer Hospital. Co-located on the Campus are the
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, the Ludwig Institute, the Jenner Institute for
Vaccine Research, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering and the Richard Doll Building for
Epidemiology and Biostatistics. The Nuffield Department of Medicine is developing a Target
Discovery Institute on this site and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology has a new
building currently under construction.
The Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology is the leading centre for the
identification and development of new approaches to the biological and physical targeting of
radiation to improve the cure and control of cancer. Our priority areas for application of
radiotherapy are lung cancer, gastrointestinal tract notably pancreas and rectal cancer and
urology.
For more information please visit: http://www.rob.ox.ac.uk/
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Job description
Overview of the role
The post holder will aim to define pathways of DNA damage signalling involved in the
decision between homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining in DNA
double-strand break repair.
Responsibilities/duties
Research
The successful candidate will aim to define the signalling pathways, which promote
recombinational repair reactions in normal cells. These will of course be altered in cancer
cells, leading to illegitimate repair of spontaneous DNA breaks and chromosomal
aberrations. BRCA1 and 53BP1 are DNA damage response factors which play opposing
roles in damage signalling: 53BP1 channels repair through non-homologous end joining,
whilst BRCA1 facilitates homologous recombination reactions. The project will address the
possible competition between BRCA1 and 53BP1 at the DNA breaks in normal cells and will
examine how this may change in tumour cells. The competition is real, because whilst Brca1
gene deletion in mouse is lethal concomitant abrogation of 53bp1 rescues viability and
restores homologous recombination reactions in Brca1-deleted cells (Bunting et al., Cell
2010; Bouwman et al., NSMB 2010). Thus, this project will also contribute to the
understanding of the mechanism of recombinational repair active in cells lacking Brca1.
Supervision

The ability to co-ordinate experiments with technical staff and other group members.

Assist with supervision of students.
Education and Training

Keep up to date with developments in DNA damage and repair, chromosome
structure and radiation biology, as well as other topics related to the research
activities of the Telomere and Genome Stability Group.

Participate in the education and training of other staff as necessary and appropriate.
Communication

Generate high quality data and reports suitable for publication, presentation at
meetings and submission in the context of grant proposals.

Participate and contribute to group discussions and meetings including the
presentation of own or published data.

Present results in oral and written form, and discuss scientific findings at national and
international meetings.

Inform the Group Leader and senior team members about progress or difficulties in
research projects or services.

Maintain confidentiality regarding research data when interacting with noncollaborating researchers.
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
Contribute as appropriate to the preparation of manuscripts for peer-review and
publication in scientific journals.
General responsibilities

Act at all times in the best interest of the Group and Institute and to ensure good
laboratory practice.

Be accountable for their own professional conduct within the Group.

Ensure that work in the laboratory is conducted safely, making appropriate use of the
dedicated research areas and safety procedures.

Undertake duties as may be required from time to time that are commensurate with
the grade and responsibilities of the post.

To conduct himself or herself with due regard to the University Equal Opportunities
and Data Protection policies.
Selection criteria
Essential criteria
The successful applicant will be expected to meet the following criteria:

PhD in Biology, Biochemistry or related subject.

A proven high level of technical competence in standard cell and molecular biology
techniques.

A strong background in DNA damage signalling and repair.

A good publication record with a minimum of one first-author publication in a peerreview journal.

Ability, skills and confidence to communicate in English, both orally and in writing,
scientific and safety information clearly and accurately.

The ability to work flexibly, supportively and interactively as part of a team.

Capable of working unsupervised and under own initiative on a daily basis.

Manually dextrous.

Self-motivated, enthusiastic individual.
Desirable criteria

A background in DNA damage/repair

Experience and technical competence in high-throughput screens.

Good oral and written presentation skills.
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Working at the University of Oxford
For further information about working at Oxford, please see:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/jobs/research/
How to apply
If you consider that you meet the selection criteria, click on the Apply Now button on the
‘Job Details’ page and follow the on-screen instructions to register as a user. You will then be
required to complete a number of screens with your application details, relating to your skills
and experience. When prompted, please provide details of two referees and indicate whether
we can contact them at this stage. You will also be required to upload a CV and supporting
statement. The supporting statement should describe what you have been doing over at
least the last 10 years. This may have been employment, education, or you may have taken
time away from these activities in order to raise a family, care for a dependant, or travel for
example. Your application will be judged solely on the basis of how you demonstrate that
that you meet the selection criteria outlined above and we are happy to consider evidence of
transferable skills or experience which you may have gained outside the context of paid
employment or education.
Please save all uploaded documents to show your name and the document type.
All applications must be received by midday on the closing date stated in the online
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Should you experience any difficulties using the online application system, please email
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To return to the online application at any stage, please click on the following link
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