Research Technician In Plant Sciences

Research Technician in Plant Sciences

Location:York Area

Contract:Permanent

Salary:£22,000 - £32,000

We are recruiting a Research Technician to support the Technology Development group and be

responsible for the evaluation of the effect of microbes on plants cultivated in different substrates

and environments. The successful candidate will be passionate about plants and commited to

reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment.

The Technology Development group at Azotic Technologies develops microbial products for

sustainable horticulture and agriculture that reduces the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides,

while enhancing plant vigour and yield.

The multidisciplinary team

• evaluates the plant growth promoting properties of engineered and wild type microbes,
• elucidate their colonisation of different plants by microbes using microscopy and dPCR, and
• quantify the effect of microbes on the physiology, morphology, yield and yield components of horticultural and agricultural crops.

Plants are cultivated in the lab, glasshouses and controlled environments (including vertical farm

hydroponics and aeroponics) in optimum and stressed (nutrients, temperature, salt, water)

conditions.

Company:

Azotic Technologies Ltd is a dynamic cutting-edge Biotech company specialising in the development and commercialisation of novel biologicals for the agricultural sector.

We are a global innovator in agricultural Biological Nitrogen-Fixation (BNF) and are currently

expanding our commercial microbial product portfolio into markets in the US, Europe and Asia. Our technology fixes nitrogen within non-leguminous crops thereby providing enhanced yield and plant health, savings on nitrogen fertiliser, all with reduced environmental impact.

With sites in the UK and North America, we are a rapidly developing company with a unique product portfolio and an exciting product pipeline beyond Nitrogen-fixation.

Azotic has just completed a new Technical Development Centre close to York (UK) to house 20-30

scientists and administrative staff. We are looking for motivated and enthusiastic people to join us

on our exciting journey to enhance global food security.

Main Responsibilities:

• Conduct plant cultivation experiments in compost, hydroponics and aeroponics systems.
• Sampling of plants and processing of samples for DNA/mRNA extraction or metabolite analysis.
• Quantification of nucleic acids via different PCR (dPCR, RT-PCR) methods.
• Record plant physiological measurements (such as chlorophyll, NDVI, carotenoids) during cultivation.
• Measure morphological traits of plants during cultivation (destructive sampling).
• Maintain microbial cultures and prepare microbial cultures for plant experiments.
• Implementation and modification of protocols.

General responsibilities

• Assisting in the day-to-day running of the laboratory and other plant growing facilities, including the care and maintenance of equipment in the plant lab and controlled environment facility.
• Maintaining Health and Safety records and developing risk assessments for new and existing protocols.
• Maintaining good records and laboratory notebooks of work carried out, including providing data to other members of the research group.
• Providing flexible technical support to members of the research group based on their needs.
• Preparing, collating and presenting data to members of the research group at group meetings.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences, Plant Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Science, Microbiology or relevant field OR a Foundation degree (FdSc)/Level 5 Diploma/T-level/BTEC from an Agricultural University in Crop Production.
• In lieu of formal qualifications, 5+ years' experience in cultivating plants in Industry or Research
• Institutes in protected horticulture, field trials or crop production/crop protection will also be considered.

Benefits:

• Employee Assistance Programme
• Company Pension (10% Employer Contribution)
• Life Insurance
• Private Medical Care
• Employee Benefits Programme
• Performance-related bonus