BBSRC Sponsored Postdoc Position

Overview

We are seeking a talented and motivated Research Associate to join Professor Matt Johnson’s group in the School of Biosciences to investigate how bioenergetic supercomplexes promote electron transfer in respiration and photosynthesis. The role is funded by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) responsive mode grant for three years, commencing in October 2026.

A central puzzle in bioenergetics is why electron transfer (ET) complexes cluster into larger supercomplexes within the membranes of mitochondria, chloroplasts, and bacteria. Building on our recently developed single-molecule atomic force microscopy (smAFM) approach, this project will test the hypothesis that supercomplexes enhance ET by promoting the formation of transient encounter complexes between soluble electron carrier proteins and their cognate membrane integral complexes. The work spans bacterial, mitochondrial, and chloroplast systems and combines smAFM with complementary biophysical methods (mass photometry, microscale thermophoresis, spectroscopy), cryo-electron microscopy, and the engineering of artificial supercomplexes via CRISPR-Cas9 in Chlamydomonas.

You will work within a vibrant research environment that includes the Imagine: Imaging Life facility, world-class controlled environment plant and algal growth facilities, and an active community of researchers in photosynthesis, bacterial bioenergetics, and structural biology. You will also collaborate with leading international partners, providing excellent opportunities for career development.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Design, execute, and analyse single-molecule atomic force microscopy (smAFM) experiments to quantify the binding probabilities, unbinding forces, and turnover rates of electron carrier proteins on isolated and supercomplex forms of bacterial, mitochondrial, and chloroplast electron transfer complexes.
• Purify membrane protein supercomplexes and their components from yeast mitochondria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, spinach chloroplasts, and Chlamydomonas thylakoids, including via collaborations with international partners.
• Apply complementary biophysical methods, including mass photometry, microscale thermophoresis, and absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, to characterise protein-protein interactions and electron transfer kinetics.
• Design and generate site-directed mutants of supernumerary subunits implicated in encounter complex formation and characterise their effects on binding and turnover.
• Engineer artificial supercomplexes in Chlamydomonas using CRISPR-Cas9, including the construction and validation of chimeric gene fusions and the purification biophysical and structural (Cryo-EM) characterisation of the resulting complexes.
• Liaise with collaborators conducting molecular and Brownian dynamics simulations to translate computational predictions into testable experimental hypotheses and vice versa.
• Disseminate research outputs through publications in international peer-reviewed journals, oral and poster presentations at national and international conferences, and contributions to public engagement activities.
• Contribute to the day-to-day running of the laboratory, including assisting with the training and supervision of postgraduate and undergraduate students.
• Contribute to grant reporting and to the preparation of further funding applications, including Researchfish submissions to the BBSRC.
• Maintain accurate, contemporaneous records of experimental data in line with good research practice and the University’s research data management policy.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.