Senior Research Fellow

Senior Research Fellow

Department/Division/Faculty: Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Division of System Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

Campus/Location

White City

Job Family/Level

Research Job Family, Senior Research Fellow (Research salary scale

Responsible to

Prof. Zoltan Takats

Line management for

N/A Key working Relationships

Principal Investigator and project team; Prof. Marc(Internal): Emmanuel Dumas and colleagues providing access to the Orbitrap ID-X; Imperial colleagues in stableisotope tracing, metabolic flux analysis, metabolomics and mass spectrometry.

Key Working Relationships

BBSRC/UKRI; Thermo Fisher Scientific application (External): specialists where appropriate; national and international academic collaborators relevant to UFM, tandem mass spectrometry and metabolic flux analysis.

Contract type

Part-time Fixed-term, 18 months, 50% FTE Research Programme We are looking to appoint a part-time Senior Research Fellow, the post is fundeded by the BBSRC Transformative Research Technologies (25TRT) project “Beyond Spectral Libraries: Predictive Fragmentation Modelling to Power High-Resolution Metabolic Flux Analysis”. The project will develop a new technology for isotope-resolved fluxomics by extending the Universal Fragmentation Model (UFM) to provide mechanistically justified, atom-resolved interpretations of MS/MS and, where informative, MS ⁿ data.

The research will: (1) implement persistent atom mapping and isotopologue support in UFM; (2) build and experimentally validate a flux-oriented fragment knowledgebase that classifies fragments by mechanistic reliability; (3) integrate UFM-derived fragment definitions with established EMU-based metabolic flux analysis tools; and (4) develop robust LC-MS/MS and MS ⁿ studies of pentose phosphate pathway flux. Experimental work will use stable-isotope-labelled standards and tracer studies, with high-resolution MS/MS and MS ⁿ

) - £85,873 per annum – pro rata acquisition and validation workflows, including on an Orbitrap ID-X at Imperial.

Imperial College London

Purpose of the Post

The post is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) through the Transformative Research Technologies (25TRT) programme to develop predictive, mechanistically informed tandem mass spectrometry for high-resolution metabolic flux analysis.

To plan, lead and undertake high-quality research in mechanistic tandem mass spectrometry, computational fragmentation modelling and isotope-resolved metabolic flux analysis. The post-holder will develop the UFM software for atom-resolved isotope tracing, perform computational and LC-MS/MS/MS ⁿ validation, integrate UFM outputs with established MFA tools, analyse tracer data, and deliver reusable software, benchmark datasets and publications. The post-holder will also contribute to project management, dissemination and development of follow-on research opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

To lead and undertake research of the highest quality in mechanistic fragmentation modelling and isotoperesolved metabolic flux analysis;

• Publish research findings in high-quality peer-reviewed journals and contribute to open research outputs arising from the project
• Present project results at relevant national and international conferences, workshops and scientific meetings
• Contribute to follow-on research proposals and funding applications that build on the technology developed in the project
• Provide specialist guidance and, where appropriate, supervision to students and researchers contributing to related work Management:
• Manage the research activities and resources allocated to the project appropriately, including delivery against agreed milestones.

Teaching

• Contribute to teaching, training or supervision in relevant areas where appropriate and consistent with the 0.5 FTE research appointment.

Research Duties

• To develop and deliver the research programme described in the BBSRC 25TRT award and contribute to related follow-on research proposals.
• To take initiative in planning and leading computational and experimental research across the project work packages.
• To manage day-to-day research activities, milestones, data and deliverables for the project.
• To work collaboratively with Imperial colleagues and external specialists, and to provide specialist guidance to students or researchers where appropriate.
• To prepare scientific and technical reports for the research sponsor and Imperial as required.

Imperial College London

• To disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications, software and data releases, presentations and workshops.
• To provide guidance to staff and students in relevant areas of mass spectrometry, computational modelling and flux analysis.
• To attend relevant workshops and conferences as necessary.
• To develop research collaborations within Imperial and the wider mass spectrometry, metabolomics and fluxomics communities.
• To promote the reputation of the Group, Department and Imperial through high-quality research and open, reusable research outputs.

Education

• Contribute, where appropriate, to undergraduate, postgraduate and research training in areas relevant to the post.
• Support teaching or research training activities where these align with the project and departmental needs.
• Contribute specialist expertise to training materials, workshops or tutorials in computational mass spectrometry and flux analysis where appropriate.
• Support development of research-led teaching and training approaches in relevant analytical and computational methods.
• Provide appropriate academic guidance and supervision to students involved in related research.

Other Duties

• To undertake appropriate administration tasks
• Contribute to departmental management as required
• Monitor and ensure effective management of assets and budgets allocated as part of the role
• To ensure that research data, software outputs and associated documentation are accurate, upto-date, appropriately stored and prepared for sharing in line with funder and Imperial requirements.
• To attend relevant meetings
• To undertake any necessary training and/or development

Person Specification

Requirements

Essential (E)/ Candidates/post holders will be expected to demonstrate the following:

Desirable (D) Education

PhD in chemistry, analytical chemistry, computational chemistry, mass

E spectrometry, metabolomics, systems biology, or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience

Knowledge & Experience

Expert knowledge of tandem mass spectrometry, gas-phase ion chemistry and E small-molecule fragmentation mechanisms

Imperial College London

Knowledge of stable-isotope tracing and metabolic flux analysis, including

E interpretation of isotopologue/isotopomer data Substantial practical research experience in computational and/or experimental

E mass spectrometry, supported by relevant peer-reviewed publications Experience of working effectively with academic collaborators, research

E sponsors, instrument specialists and/or scientific software users

A record of high-quality publications in international peer-reviewed journals

E

Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with academics and researchers

E across disciplinary boundaries

Experience of supervising or providing specialist guidance to E undergraduate/postgraduate students or research staff Experience of presenting complex research findings to specialist and nonE specialist audiences Demonstrated success in delivering high-quality research results with evidence

E of national or international recognition Demonstrated technical skills in mechanistic fragmentation modelling, scientific

E programming, quantum-chemical or molecular modelling, and LC-MS/MS data analysis; ability to design, plan and lead original research and deliver project milestones Evidence of making a significant contribution to successful research proposals

E and funding applications

Evidence of teaching, research training, supervision or mentoring

E

Skills & Abilities

Ability to conduct a detailed review of recent literature

E

Ability to develop and apply new concepts; Able to formulate research questions

E and develop successful research proposals and funding bids Creative approach to problem-solving

E

Excellent verbal communication skills and the ability to deal with a wide range of E people Excellent written communication skills and the ability to write clearly and E succinctly for publication Ability to direct the work of a small research team and motivate others to E produce a high standard of work Ability to organise own work with minimal supervision; ability to work effectively, E both independently and collaboratively Ability to prioritise own work in response to deadlines

E

Advanced computational skills, including scientific programming, data analysis

E and use or development of research software Imperial College London

Willingness to work as part of a team and to be open-minded and cooperative

E

Flexible attitude towards work

E

Discipline and regard for confidentiality and security at all times

E

Willingness to undertake any necessary training for the role

E

Willingness to travel both within the United Kingdom and abroad to conduct

E research and attend conferences

Further Information

Please note that job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

Our values are at the root of everything we do and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate

Imperial

• Respect
• Collaboration
• Excellence
• Integrity
• Innovation

Employees are also required to comply with all Imperial policies and regulations.

We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex, or sexual orientation. You can read more about our commitment on our webpages.

Imperial is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/researchand-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/ Imperial believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes which are ultimately aimed towards finding new treatments and making scientific and medical advances, and where there are no satisfactory or reasonably practical alternatives to their use. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in our care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. Find out more about animal research at Imperial.

[October 2026] Imperial College London