Job Title Support Scientist / Senior Support Scientist, BLI04.1
Job Reference DIA0869/SB
Post Type
Division Science
Salary information Circa £26k or circa £33k for appointment at the higher level
Application deadline Open Vacancy


Job Description

Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. Located at Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, we enable world-leading research across a wide range of scientific disciplines and industrial applications.

The MX beamline I04.1 is one of five beamlines for macromolecular crystallography, and was explicitly designed for high-throughput work, in particular ligand binding studies, thanks to a very stable beam and sample automation.  Since December 2012, the focus has shifted to implementing a user program for fragment screening by X-rays, by exploiting extreme high throughput and additionally providing the full experiment, from compound libraries through to automated data analysis.  Now that unattended mode has been implemented, the beamline can automatically collect 300-500 datasets in 24 hours, and the focus shifts to setting up the facilities for soaking and harvesting that many crystals. 

This initiative is in partnership with the research group of the Principal Beamline Scientist, Frank von Delft, at the Structural Genomics Consortium in Oxford, where he retains a part-time appointment since joining the beamline last year.  All beamline staff are involved in this endeavour, and once feasibility has been established, further employment opportunities are anticipated at the beamline in the coming years.

Support Scientist - Scientific support to designated beamline and the user operation programme.

  • Assist in the installation, assembly, and maintenance of a range of equipment and systems on the beamline and support laboratories, including testing and commissioning;
  • Provide support to users, answering queries and ensuring they are fully briefed to use the appropriate equipment;
  • Measurement of samples sent to Diamond by users; including data reduction and basic reports;
  • Undertake problem solving and fault diagnosis of complex instrumentation eg the beamline end station;
  • Support of in-house research activities;
  • Management of beamline peripheral laboratories where appropriate;
  • Produce documentation for external users to enable use of standard laboratory instrumentation;
  • Co-ordinate meetings, documents, reports and communications.

Senior Support Scientist - Scientific support to designated beamline and the user operation programme.

  • Assist in the procurement, installation, assembly, and maintenance of a range of equipment and systems on the beamline and support laboratories, including testing and commissioning;
  • Local contact support to users by setting up and providing advice and guidance on the best approach to experiments, data analysis and research techniques;
  • Measurement of samples including data analysis and contributing to publications;
  • Undertake problem solving and fault diagnosis of the beamline;
  • Develop and maintain expertise in a scientific field, and apply it to user support;
  • Work closely with other scientific and technical staff to produce designs for  new systems, equipment or processes;
  • Collaborate with users and in house staff research within area of expertise;
  • Contribute to scientific papers from external or in-house research;
  • Produce reports and documentation (e.g. manuals) to support the beamline and laboratories.

Qualification & Experience - Essential

  • Appropriate Science Degree;
  • Experience of macromolecular crystallography data collection;
  • Experience with Windows/ Linux/Unix;
  • Good interpersonal, communication and presentational skills;
  • Ability to interact effectively with staff at all levels;
  • Ability and initiative to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion;
  • Self motivation.

Essential for appointment at the higher level:

  • Appropriate PhD and 3 years relevant experience;
  • Experience in supporting Scientists in the conduct of research in a synchrotron or equivalent facility;
  • Experience of beamline instrumentation.

Qualification & Experience - Desirable

  • Appropriate PhD degree or equivalent qualification or experience;
  • Experience of commissioning and operating macromolecular crystallography synchrotron x-ray beamlines;
  • Experience of beamline instrumentation;
  • Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Further Information

For further information about this role please contact:  Frank von Delft (frank.von-delft@diamond.ac.uk)

Applying for employment

For further details on applying for employment at Diamond, please visit our 'Application Form' page.

Appointments will be made depending on the skills and experience of the candidate. Electronic Diamond application forms in MS-Word are preferred. These should be emailed to recruitment@diamond.ac.uk



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