Earlham Institute
Pre Doctoral Intern
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Internship Opportunity: Data-Driven Plant Synthetic Biology
The intern will be primarily supervised by Career Development Fellow Dr Will Shaw and will work closely with the research groups of Prof. Anthony Hall and Dr Sarah Guiziou.
The Predoctoral Intern will work on engineering biology approaches for plant sciences, constructing and testing AI-designed promoters in whole plants to advance our ability to engineer climate-resilient crops.
The applicant will join a collaborative environment at the interface of plant synthetic biology and computational biology, contributing to a project that links AI-guided DNA design with experimental validation in plants.
They will gain training across the full design-build-test-learn cycle and develop the technical and conceptual foundations for a research career in these fields. The intern will gain hands-on experience in genetic construct design and assembly, plant transformation, genotyping, and luciferase reporter assays. Through this, they will learn how promoter activity can be measured quantitatively across whole plants and connected to synthetic regulatory design.
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Alongside wet-lab training, the intern will be introduced to AI-guided DNA design and learn how computational models generate synthetic regulatory elements with predicted expression behaviours. They will also develop broader research skills in experimental design, troubleshooting, data analysis, and scientific communication. The applicant will be embedded in an active research community through weekly plant engineering biology and plant genomics meetings, and a monthly journal club. They will have opportunities to present their work, lead a journal club, and receive support in applying for their next position.
The Ideal Candidate
We are seeking to recruit a Predoctoral Intern in data-driven plant synthetic biology to join our cohort of PhD students and interns at the Earlham Institute. Applications are encouraged from undergraduate or master's students who have completed - or expect to complete - an undergraduate degree in biology, bioengineering, or plant science prior to commencing the internship.
The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in molecular biology and engineering biology. Experience in basic molecular biology and plant science would be advantageous but is not essential. Within their application, we encourage candidates to highlight how this internship will help launch and develop their future career.
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Additional Information
- Salary: on appointment will be within the range £24,455 to £25,000 per annum depending on qualifications and experience.
- Contract: This is a full-time post for a contract of 12 months.
- Travel Grant: a small travel grant will be provided for any non-UK interns (to the value of £1000) to enable them to travel to the UK. Any costs above this will need to be funded by the Intern, including any visa costs.
- Visa Sponsorship: Please note, this post does not meet UKVI requirements to provide visa sponsorship.
- Disability Confident: As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.
- Closing Date: The closing date for applications will be 10th August 2026.
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