Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron and a leading scientific facility of its type in the world. Located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in South Oxfordshire, we host research facilities supporting cutting edge research in all fields of science.

B21 is a tuneable, bending magnet small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) beamline dedicated to liquid samples. As part of our commitment to providing SAXS in the biological sciences a beamline scientist with expertise in BIOSAXS has been established.

The Beamline Scientist will work in collaboration with the Principal Beamline scientist and the B21 science team to contribute to the operation, maintenance and development of B21 for solution-state SAXS. The post supports academic and industrial users who visit the beamline. The successful candidate will be expected to develop an internationally competitive research programme which advances the beamline’s capabilities.

To contribute to the operation, maintenance and development of the high throughput SAXS beamline B21, working closely with the Principal beamline scientist and the relevant support groups at Diamond. Pursue an internationally competitive research programme to complement the capabilities of B21.

Duties

Contribute to B21 beamline in the following areas: -

• Continued commissioning and optimisation of the beamline
• Operation of the beamline user programme plus assist in coordinating access to the beamline
• Lead and complete specific upgrade projects associated with the beamline
• Initiate and lead research projects that advance B21’s mission and goals
• Carry out an independent and internationally competitive research programme in an area relevant to B21
• Contribute to the user program through the local contact system and in particular help users plan, execute and analyse their data from B21

• Ability to structure and frame technical problems, provide a solution and execute on a plan to effectively resolve the problem;
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills. Beamline scientist will be a representative of the beamline and its mission;
• Ability to work in a team and participate in achieving stated goals;
• Self-motivated;
• Beamline optics associated with sagittal and toroidal focusing X-ray optics in combination with double crystal and double multi-layer Si(111) monochromators;
• Experiments and analysis of multi-phase systems;
• Proficient with LINUX, WINDOWS and MacOS;
• SAXS User support: managing and providing analytical support to assigned users through a run period;
• Beamline project management: managing upgrade projects that enhance the beamline;
• Appropriate PhD.

• Three(+) years relevant experience;
• SAXS/SANS analysis of biopolymers (branched carbohydrates with IGOR Pro);
• Experiments and analysis of fiber/polymer solution state SAXS;
• Proficient in JAVA and PYTHON programming.

Must be available to travel occasionally within the UK and abroad.