Research Assistant in Biology

• School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability
• Deliver a wide range of research-related technical and specialist skills and services
• Support and enable the research endeavours of the University
• Based at St Lucia campus

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world.

Everyone here has a role to play. As a member of our professional staff cohort, you will be actively involved in working towards our vision of a better world. By supporting the academic endeavour across teaching, research, and the student life, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to activities that have a lasting impact on our community.

Join a community where excellence is at the core of our culture, contributions are valued and a range of benefits and rewards are available, such as:

• 26 weeks paid parental leave or 14 weeks paid primary caregiver leave
• 17% superannuation contributions
• 17.5% annual leave loading
• Access to flexible working arrangements including hybrid working options, flexible start/finish times, purchased leave, and a condensed fortnight
• Health and wellness discounts – fitness passport access, free yearly flu vaccinations, discounted health insurance, and access to our Employee Assistance Program for staff and their immediate family
• On campus childcare options
• Cheap parking (from just $5 a day)
• Salary packaging options

About This Opportunity 

We are looking for an experienced and highly motivated Research Assistant to apply their expertise and advanced knowledge on various projects related to pineapple tissue culture and molecular analysis.

Key responsibilities will include: 

• Performing plant tissue culture and transformation
• Making tissue culture media, subculturing callus tissues
• Extracting genomic DNA and performing PCR
• Attending lab duties; cleaning plasticware and autoclaving lab glassware
• Taking care of plants in glasshouse/growth cabinets

• Preparing reports of experimental findings. 
• Maintaining and keeping accurate and secure records of procedures and experimental results in accordance with university and granting body policies. 
• Participating in administrative activities associated with running the laboratory, such as ordering and maintenance of lab equipment/consumables as needed.

This is a part-time (50%), fixed-term position for 6 months.

At HEW level 5, the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $74,378.89 - $82,842.92, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $87,023.30 - $96,926.22 annually. 

About You  

• BSc (Hons) (or equivalent) with subsequent experience in the area of tissue culture or an equivalent combination of relevant experience and/or education/training.
• Experience in tissue culture and/or plant transformation
• Experience and knowledge in basic molecular biology techniques like DNA extraction and PCR
• Ability to work with precision to obtain reproducible results.
• Ability to plan and execute work independently.
• Experience working in PC2 laboratory environments.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with colleagues. 
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Demonstrated organization skills with thorough attention to detail in the recording of research methods and results.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment. 

 
Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Professor Jimmy Botella at  j.botella@uq.edu.au. For application queries, please contact recruitment@uq.edu.au stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line. 
 

Want to Apply? 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Cover letter addressing the ‘About You’ section  
• Resume 

Please note that you will be asked to add all documents into the one upload box labelled ‘resume’, which is step one of the application form.
 

Other Information 

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion.  We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in our broader community, whether that be gender identity, LGBTQIA+, cultural and/or linguistic, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, or people with a disability. Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to recruitment@uq.edu.au 

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close August 8th 2023 at 11.00pm AEST (Job Reference Number - R-25118). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for August 15th 2023.

In your application, please refer to Professorpositions.com