Postdoctoral Research Assistant in OA Pathophysiology

This is a full time (100% FTE), fixed term position for 3 years. 

The University of Oxford is a stimulating work environment, which enjoys an international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence. Our research plays a key role in tackling many global challenges, from reducing our carbon emissions to developing vaccines during a pandemic. 

The Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) is part of the Medical Sciences Division and is the largest European academic department in its field, running a globally competitive programme of research and teaching.

The Kennedy Institute is a biomedical research centre uniquely bringing together discovery science and early-stage clinical research, to develop transformative new therapies for chronic inflammatory and musculoskeletal conditions.

The Centre for Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis (OA Centre) was established in 2013 and is led by Professor Tonia Vincent. The successful candidate will contribute to STEpUP OA, a large international Consortium focused on understanding the biological mechanisms underlying osteoarthritis progression and patient heterogeneity through deep molecular phenotyping. STEpUP OA integrates demographic, clinical, and synovial fluid proteomics with a particular emphasis on identifying pathways associated with structural damage and knee pain. 

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including: 

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days annual leave
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Cycle loan scheme
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
• Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs

About the Role 

We are offering an exciting and unique opportunity for a talented postdoctoral research assistant. In this role you will manage your own academic research and administrative activities. This involves small scale project management, to co-ordinate multiple aspects of work to meet deadlines. You will also adapt existing and develop new scientific techniques and experimental protocols as well as hypotheses and analyse scientific data from a variety of sources, reviewing and refining working hypotheses as appropriate. You will contribute ideas for new research projects, including developing ideas for new grants through new research proposals. Additionally, you will collaborate in the preparation of scientific reports and journal articles and present papers and posters.

About You

You will hold, or be close to completion of, a PhD/DPhil in a biomedical science related discipline. You will possess established expertise in data analysis including statistical programming (e.g., STATA, RStudio, Python). You will demonstrate previous experience of contributing to publications/presentations as well as the ability to manage your own academic research and associated activities. You will also demonstrate the ability to contribute ideas for new research projects and research income generation. You must have excellent communication skills, including the ability to write manuscripts, present research proposals and results, and represent the research group at meetings. Experience working with human date and experience analysing large-scale omics datasets (e.g., proteomics, transcriptomics, genomics, metabolomics, or related high-dimensional biological data) are desirable.

Application Process

You will be required to upload a covering letter/supporting statement, CV, and the details of two referees as part of your online application. Please quote 188472 in all correspondence.

The closing date for applications is 12pm 9 September 2026.

Interviews will take place during week commencing 5 October 2026 and will be ONLINE.

Contact Person: NDORMS Recruitment

Pay Scale: RESEARCH GRADE 7

Contact Email: recruitment@ndorms.ox.ac.uk