Work and Train in the IMSR

Man conducting research in a laboratory

Current Vacancies

Senior Administrator and PA – IMSR and ICVS

  • Grade 5
  • Full Time
  • Fixed Term Contract from April 2024 to 18th January 2025 (maternity cover)
  • Closing date: 14 March 2024 

This role is open to internal applicants as a secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager. This role provides PA support to two senior professors with internationally renowned reputations in their fields, along with PA and senior administrative support to other academic colleagues across both Institutes, undertaking specific responsibilities and other key administrative support. You will use your excellent organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure the people you support are well prepared, and that the tasks you carry out are completed to a high quality and in a timely manner. This role works supportively with all colleagues whilst sharing knowledge and best practice across the team.

Find out more and apply

Research Associate (PSRC)

This is Research Associate post is to support the recently funded NIHR Midlands Patient Safety Research Centre (PSRC) maternity theme. This theme will focus on a clinician’s failure to recognise risks in patient care, as well as improving communication and understanding of drug safety for women and their babies. Work will be conducted to better understand risks in maternity care, to design, embed and evaluate clinical decision support tools within IT systems in 3 NHS Trusts, to evaluate medication safety for pregnant women with pre-existing conditions, and support women to make informed decisions about their care, in a bid to improve outcomes of mother and baby. Closing date is 25 March 2024.

Find out more and apply

Senior Research Technician

This Senior Research Technician post is to support the research undertaken by Dr da Silva Xavier and other researchers within the Women’s Metabolic Health Theme.  The mission of this Theme is to take a woman-centred, integrated life course approach to advance the metabolic health of women and their offspring through early translational and experimental medicine research in areas of greatest need, answering central research questions prioritised through patient and public engagement.

The role holder will use a variety of techniques to include, but not exclusively:

  • Molecular biology:
    • PCR, quantative and non- quantative
    • Western blotting
    • Gene expression assays 
    • Cell extracts and Isolation of RNA/DNA/proteins from cells/tissue
  • ELISA
  • Competitive binding assays
  • Preparation of samples and knowledge of the following:
    • Mass spectrometry
    • NMR
  • Histology:
    • Sample preparation and sectioning cryo and paraffin 
    • Immunohistochemistry

Closing date is 7 April 2024.

Find out more and apply

 

Research Fellowships

We welcome new researchers to the University of Birmingham and support our existing researchers to launch their independent careers by applying for Fellowship funding. See this page for the latest opportunities.

Summer Studentships

The Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, an interdisciplinary research institute, is always committed to training the next generation of scientists and has a very successful Summer School which runs between June and July.

IMSR Summer School 2023

The Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, an interdisciplinary research institute, is always committed to training the next generation of scientists and has a very successful Summer School which runs between June and July.

The IMSR Summer School, led by Dr Vicki Smith and Dr Angela Taylor is a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience on how metabolism and endocrinology affects disease.

The school provides an invaluable opportunity to perform scientific research and to bolster student CVs. Some of our past summer students have found their experience so rewarding they have returned to intercalate or to take their PhDs at the University of Birmingham.

Each year IMSR Summer School students join the department to work with our Principle Investigators (PIs) in their research groups. Students spent six weeks in the IMSR, learning research and analytical techniques, attending a weekly Journal Club and having the opportunity to participate in IMSR seminars and activities. Students from any higher education institute nationally and internationally are welcome to apply. 

Applications

Applications for the IMSR Summer School 2024 open 27th November 2023. The closing date for applications is Friday 26th January 2024.

Apply

Who is eligible to apply?

Students should currently be an undergraduate and must not be in their final year of study. We encourage students from any biological/chemical field to apply, including Medicine (MBChB), Biomedical Sciences (BMedSci), Biochemical Engineering, Biosciences, Biochemistry and Pharmacy (MPharm).

Is any funding available to support Summer School students?

Students who are accepted into the IMSR Summer School can apply for funding. Students will be encouraged to work with their supervisors to help identify potential internal and external funding to support living and/or associated research costs. Obtaining funding support is not always possible but this would not impact on the student's placement.

 

For questions regarding any aspect of the IMSR Summer School please contact Dr Vicki Smith or Dr Angela Taylor.

For more information about our researchers

Read more about the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research and the IMSR Principal Investigators

Here are some comments from previous IMSR summer students:

Past summer school students speaking about their experiences

 

Masters by Research 

The Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, an interdisciplinary research institute, is always committed to training the next generation of scientists.

 The Institute hosts students registered for a research masters degree in the UK or Europe to complete projects that can be written up for a masters thesis. The students work for a period of up to 12 months in a host laboratory within the Institute.

Interested students should contact IMSR group leaders directly.

View more information on IMSR Principal Investigators and their research.

Find out more about the MSc by Research programme at the IMSR

Undergraduate courses

The Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR) is committed to training excellent scientists and healthcare professionals, with a strong ethos of delivering outstanding undergraduate teaching underpinned by cutting-edge research, in line with the University of Birmingham 2026 vision.

IMSR staff participate in the delivery of several UG programmes including MBChB, BSc Biomedical Science (BSc), MPharm, BDS, and the intercalated BSc Clinical Sciences. In addition, IMSR staff contributes to UG teaching for the School of Biosciences.

IMSR staff regularly serve as personal tutors for students on the MBChB, BMedSc and MPharm programmes, contribute to MBChB Year 1 research taster sessions and supervise electives and audit projects of MBChB students. IMSR staff regularly supervise final year dissertation projects for BMedSc and intercalated BMedSc Clinical Sciences students.

To find out more about our undergraduate courses, please visit the College of Medical and Dental Sciences

Postgraduate Taught courses

To find out more about our postgraduate taught courses, please visit the College of Medical and Dental Sciences.