Opportunities Overview

Funding, job and studentship opportunities in synthetic and engineering biology within Cambridge and externally.

Opportunities by Category

Funding Opportunities: internal and external grant funding opportunities and other sources of funding.

Job Opportunities: a list of current and past postdoc, lecturer and senior academic roles as well as roles in Cambridge-based companies and wider opportunitites across synthetic and engineering biology.

Internships: placements outside of academia in industry, policy organisations and other environments.

Postgraduate studentships: PhD studentships, Masters courses and other postgraduate placement opportunities.

Undergraduate placement opportunities: if you are looking for a summer placement or Part II or Part III project, we can signpost to relevant synthetic and/or engineering biology labs based on your interests. Please email coordinator@engbio.cam.ac.uk.

All Opportunities

Research Associate - Lilley Group Biochemistry (apply by 13 February)

Postdoctoral Research Associate to apply proteomics technologies to an ancient universal bacterial membrane effector system The post is a key part of an existing major 5-year BBSRC sLoLa award to understand an ancient universal membrane effector system, and tackle outstanding question of how...

Research Assistant/Associate - Computational Biology Sainsbury Lab (apply by 15 February)

Applications are invited for a Research Associate (RA) position in the group of Professor Henrik Jonsson at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University, to carry out fundamental research in the field of computational morphodynamics in plants. The work will be within the BBSRC-funded project "...

Marie Curie MetaExplore PhD position Biochemistry (apply by 15 February)

PhD Position - Marie Curie network MetaExplore: Functional metagenomics - novel biocatalysts for a sustainable circular economy from ultrahigh throughput screening.

A doctoral position is available to work with Florian Hollfelder at the Biochemistry Department of Cambridge University (...

University Assistant/Associate Professor in Materials Science (apply by 15 March)

The Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy invite applications for a University Assistant/Associate Professorship position. The successful candidate will have an outstanding research record in a Materials Science related field and strong commitment to teaching. The post is available...

Early independence: career development fellowship (apply by 21 April)

Apply for an early independence fellowship if your research focus is within Medical Research Council (MRC) remit.

You must:

EPSRC IAA & Siemens Impact Starter Fund (apply by 20 March)

EPSRC IAA & Siemens Impact Starter Fund opportunity available. Brief call description below, for full information check ...

Leverhulme Trust Philip Leverhulme Prizes 2026 (internal deadline: 3rd March 2026)

The Philip Leverhulme Prizes of £100,000 are awarded to researchers at an early stage of their careers whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising. The funding should be used for any purpose...

Plant BioDesign Engineering Biology PhD programme (apply by 19 January)

Applications for the new Plant BioDesign Engineering Biology PhD programme close in two weeks! Check out the fantastic projects on offer at ...

Cambridge Centre for Physical Biology (CPB) Summer Studentships (apply by 31 January)

We are recruiting project proposals for undergraduates to undertake an 8-week internship in one of the CPB labs this summer. 3 studentships of £3000 will be available, to cover subsistence costs.

...

Cambridge Centre for Physical Biology (CPB) Prize for ECRs (apply by 31 January)

The Cambridge Centre for Physical Biology (CPB) aims to support and facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations across the University of Cambridge. This year they will recognise up to 2 PhDs and 2 Postdocs for their innovative research at the...

PhD Opportunity - Pharmacology (apply by 26th February)

Starting in October 2026, a 4-year Research Studentship will be available, leading to a University of Cambridge PhD degree in the laboratory of Prof Ewan Smith.
Funded PhD Opportunity at the Department of...

Milner Therapeutics Consortium Call is now open (apply by 13 March)

The Milner Therapeutics Consortium is excited to launch its sixth call for research proposals! The deadline for applications is 13^th March 2026.

Our ten pharma partners in the Milner Therapeutics Consortium have...

PhD Studentship: Variable and Noisy Gene Expression in the Arabidopsis Shoot Meristem (Sainsbury Lab) (apply by 15 Feb)

The Sainsbury Laboratory is internationally recognised for its cutting-edge fundamental research in plant developmental biology and computational modelling. We are offering a fully funded PhD studentship starting in October 2026 within a dynamic and collaborative research group. We invite...

MRC MPhil Studentships: Toxicities associated with nucleic acid-dependent therapies (apply by 30 Jan)

Four MPhil studentship awards covering fees and maintenance for Home students are available, these are funded by the Large Grant Contributions Fund at the University of Cambridge to support the Prosperity Partnership award from the Medical Research Council.

These MPhil studentships will...

Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science (apply by 23 Jan)

The Board of Electors to the Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship to take up appointment during 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. Candidates will have an...

Postdoctoral Research Associate Biochemistry (apply by 23 January)

We are seeking a highly motivated Post-Doctoral Research Associate to work on a new BBSRC-funded project 'Molecular grammar of a cell-type specific alternative splicing regulator' as part of an interdisciplinary team based at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge (Professors...

Research Assistant/Research Associate, CIMR (apply by 6 Feb)

We are seeking an enthusiastic, motivated individual for a position in the group of Professor Mike Weekes, Department of Medicine in the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. You will join an exciting research programme investigating novel aspects of viral...

Research Assistant / Research Associate Plant Sciences (apply by 28 January)

A postdoctoral research associate position is available in the Hibberd group to investigate the regulation of cell specific gene expression in leaves. The ability to control gene expression in specific cells is fundamental to all multicellular life. For example, cell types of the leaf carry out...

Postdoctoral Research Associate Genetics (apply by 25 January)

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position to work in the group of Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira (https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/karam-teixeira) in the...

David Sainsbury Career Development Fellow x 2 (apply by 30 January)

Applications are invited for two David Sainsbury Career Development Fellowships in the Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University. The Fellowships provide an opportunity for imaginative junior investigators to develop their own research programme and become creative leaders in the field of...

UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (apply by 28 April)

Funded by the Government Office for Science, the scheme supports early-career science or engineering researchers to undertake unclassified basic research in areas of interest to the intelligence, security and defence community. The research topics for the 2026...

MacRobert Award - Engineering Innovation (apply by 31 January)

The MacRobert Award is the UK’s longest running and most prestigious prize for engineering innovation. The presentation of the Award recognises any UK based company demonstrating outstanding innovation coupled with tangible societal benefit and proven...

Group Leader Research Fellowship Sponsorship Scheme Genetics (apply by 28 Feb)

The Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge invites expressions of interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for external fellowships to establish an independent research group.

Successful candidates will be of the highest calibre, with an exceptional...

Engineering plant rubisco enzymes (Plant BioDesign PhD Cambridge project)(apply by 19 Jan)

Engineering plant rubisco enzymes through high-throughput enzyme assays and cryo-EM (Plant BioDesign PhD Cambridge project). Every year plants remove over 100 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Engineering photosynthesis is a key technological challenge for...

MRC BSU PhD Studentship (apply by 7 January)

The Medical Research Council (MRC) Biostatistics Unit (BSU) is one of the largest groups of biostatisticians in Europe, and a major centre for research, training and knowledge transfer in biostatistics. We develop, apply and promote innovative statistical and data science approaches to advance...

Assistant/Associate Professor in Control Theory and Systems Biology (apply by 28 January)

Applications are invited for a University Assistant/Associate Professorship in the broad area of Control Theory and Systems Biology. The successful candidate will join the Control Group (https://www-control.eng.cam.ac.uk/) in the Information...

BBSRC 2025 Transformative Research Technologies (25TRT) (apply by 11 February)

Apply for funding to pursue early-stage development of cutting-edge research technologies with transformative potential in the biosciences. You must be a researcher or research technical professional based at

...

EPSRC Turing AI Global Fellowships (internal deadline: 12 January, 2026)

The EPSRC has announced the Turing AI Global Fellowships. ...

Metascience research grants round 2 (upcoming 12 February 2026)

Apply for funding to undertake cutting-edge Metascience research into more effective ways of conducting and supporting research and development (R&D), including the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), how to optimise research institutions and the challenges of measuring research...

MRC: research grant: applicant-led (no closing date)

Apply for funding to support research within the remit of the Medical Research Council (MRC). You must be employed by an eligible research organisation. You can involve more than one research group or

...

Funding, job and studentship opportunities in synthetic and engineering biology within Cambridge and externally.

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