The Science: You should consider joining the Merkle Lab if you are fascinated by our RESEARCH goals, are willing to take risks and work hard to achieve them, and if your personal and professional interests are aligned with our PHILOSOPHY. Please reach out directly to me: fm436[at]medschl.cam.ac.uk
The People: To make discoveries that have lasting impact, we must work together and push each other to excel. The ethos of our team is to support discovery, innovation, and development. Our host institute, the IMS, has an open-plan research space to facilitate collaboration between clinicians and scientists working in diverse areas of metabolic science. We are also affiliated with the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, where we regularly interact with other laboratories engaged in stem cell-based disease modelling.
The Place: The University of Cambridge is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the world and has produced luminaries from Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, to Francis Crick and Steven Hawking. We are fortunate that our lab is located in the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, which is densely populated with excellent research institutes such as the LMB which boasts a dozen Nobel laureates and biotech partners such as AstraZeneca. We also collaborate closely with group from the nearby Sanger Institute and EMBL-EBI, to harness the power of genomics and bioinformatics to address previously unassailable biological questions. The Cambridge Colleges provide a stimulating social and intellectual environment and the city of Cambridge is beautiful, and a fantastic place to raise a family. London is less than an hour away and most cities in Europe are within a two-hour plane trip.
POSITIONS
We are currently seeing three (3) positions to replace folks who have found exciting opportunities elsewhere and support our work. Specifically, we are seeking a research assistant experienced in tissue culture, a research assistant experienced in molecular biology, cloning, and gene editing, and a computational biologist intersted in machine learning and multivariate integration. Please feel free to reach out directly if you have specific questions.
Postdoctoral Positions: If you are seeking a position as a postdoc in the Merkle lab, you will need at least one first-author publication in a respected international journal and have an attitude and research plan that align with the lab philosophy and mission. Please check to see whether we have any any advertised openings that you can apply to using the instructions found online. If not, please send me via email as a single PDF: 1) a cover letter describing why you are interested in working in our group and what you hope to contribute, and 2) your CV complete with a full list of publications and contact information for three references.
Funding opportunities for early career postdocs include:
- Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship
- Herchel-Smith Postdoctoral Fellowship
- EMBO Long-term Fellowship for applicants from EMBC member states
- MRC Skill Development Fellowship
- BBSRC Future Leader Fellowship
- Marie Curie Fellowship
- Newton Fellowship for outstanding applicants from outside the US, UK, or EU
Graduate Students: We are always looking for bright and enthusiastic students. If you have been admitted to a graduate programme at the University of Cambridge or have already secured your own funding to support your studies, please email me and I will be happy to meet with you. If you have not yet secured funding or acceptance to a graduate programme, you can find some opportunities listed below.
- Gates Cambridge Scholarship
- Marshall Scholarship
- NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar’s Program
- NIH Wellcome Trust Programme
- Herchel Smith Research Studentships
- Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
- MRC DTAP
Undergraduate Students: If you are currently an undergraduate student at one of the Cambridge Colleges and hope to work in the Merkle Lab, please review the RESEARCH and PHILOSOPHY sections to determine if these align with research experience you hope to have. You should have a serious intent to pursue research and willing to spend at least 10 hours per week in the laboratory during the school year. If your are interested, please email me with a description of your prior research experience, relevant coursework, and future goals. Summer students will be considered if you have considerable pervious research experience, and if are able to secure funding to support your time in the laboratory. Some opportunities are: