This Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy Showcase and Pitch Event is an opportunity for entrepreneurs with start-up, early stage and growth businesses to increase their profile in front of a national audience of investors. The pitching competition is organised jointly by CBMNet, BIOCATNET & the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and is a unique opportunity for both entrepreneurs and investors to gain valuable insight. More information at http://cbmnetnibb.group.shef.ac.uk/events/industrial-biotechnology-showcase-and-pitch-event/

The BrisSynBio 4-day More Business Acumen (MBA) course is an interactive programme designed to provide the skills required to establish, build and manage a biotech company. The course is delivered in partnership with SynbiCITE and draws upon the experiences of seasoned entrepreneurs, patent attorneys and investors.

The 2018 course will run from 9 – 12 April and will take place at the Unit DX business accelerator in Bristol. Participants will develop real biotech business ideas and pitch them to venture capitalists. We will award up to £10,000 of prizes to help the 2018 teams turn their ideas into real businesses!

Full programme and application form available at: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/brissynbio/innovation/innovation-training-and-events/mba/

Please contact Andy Boyce (andy.boyce@bristol.ac.uk) if you have any questions.

Bicycle Therapeutics is developing a new class of medicines to treat oncology and other important diseases based on its unique proprietary bicyclic peptides (Bicycles®) product platform. Bicycle Therapeutics is currently in the clinic with BT1718, its lead Bicycle Toxin Conjugate, and is progressing its strong pipeline of toxin conjugates & immune-oncology follow on products. Bicycle Therapeutics is collaborating in oncology and other therapeutic areas to realize the full potential of the technology. Bicycle Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, U.K., with U.S. operations in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, visit: www.bicycletherapeutics.com

We have exciting new opportunities for resourceful research scientists/senior scientists to join our Discovery Biology team for a one-year post on an Innovate UK award. The successful candidate will enjoy a varied role identifying and optimising novel peptides using Bicycle’s proprietary phage display technology to develop the next generation of much needed novel antibiotics. We are looking for a highly-motivated, well organised candidate with a good working knowledge of molecular biology and application to the antibacterial area. Previous experience of phage display is advantageous but not essential.

Job description/key responsibilities:

• Phage display and molecular biology using the proprietary Bicycle platform
o Phage display selection and affinity maturation
o Adaptation of the platform to antibacterial drug discovery
o Run established assays to understand pharmacology of phage and peptides
E.g. Alphascreen, fluorescence polarisation, cell-based functional assays

• Interpretation of DNA & amino acid sequence data
o Sequence analysis and identification of structure activity relationships (SAR) in peptide sequences
o Bioinformatics to process sequencing data, perform sequence alignments and design protein expression vectors

• Establishment, validation and application of anti-bacterial assays

• Recording and presentation of data
o Verbal presentation and participation in project team discussion
o Accurate record keeping via electronic lab note book system

Key skills and competencies

• A bachelor’s degree or PhD in a biological or chemical subject with experience of working in a pharmaceutical/biotech setting
• Significant demonstrable molecular biology laboratory experience
• Candidates with a working knowledge of antibacterial science and its application to the identification of novel antibiotics or drug discovery preferred
• Strong interpersonal skills; effective communication with multidisciplinary teams both locally and remotely is essential
• Proactive approach to problem solving and strong self-motivation
• Excellent organisational skills and close attention to detail
• Diligence in documenting work and understanding of the importance of data integrity
• Good computing skills; working knowledge of data analysis software such as GraphPad Prism or SigmaPlot, electronic lab notebook systems desirable but not essential

HOW TO APPLY
Please send a cover letter and cv to careersUK@bicycletherapeutics.com with the reference NPRONET before the closing date of 31st January

Dear Colleague,

We are writing to let you know that this year’s edition of the Chemistry and Biology of Natural Products Symposium (CBNP XII) will be held at the University of Warwick on 28th-29th June 2018.

As in previous years, this symposium is open to everyone working in the field of natural products, from microbial genetics to synthetic chemistry, and we particularly encourage PhD students and postdocs to present their work with talks and posters.

Thanks to our main sponsors for the event, NPRONET and BIOCATNET, registration is FREE, and includes two lunches, a wine reception/dinner and prizes for best talks and posters.

For further details, deadlines and registration for the CBNP XII symposium please visit our website.

An overview on the format of the symposium, based on the 2017 edition (CBNP XI), can be found here.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

We are very much looking forward to seeing you at Warwick in June!

The Bioscience Skills and Careers Strategy Advisory Panel (BSC) has received input from a Bioscience Skills and Careers Postdoctoral Researcher Subgroup since March 2013. Membership of the subgroup is currently being refreshed to ensure it continues to have the necessary skills and expertise to provide input into topics highlighted by the subgroup’s recently updated terms of reference.

BBSRC is looking to appoint eight postdocs to the subgroup. Applications are sought from postdocs working in academia, including those based in research institutions, as well as those in government laboratories or industry (Postdoc in the industrial context meaning someone with a PhD carrying out a research role, but who is not directing a research programme / who does not have significant management responsibilities)

Further information can be found here:
www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/people-skills-training/2017/170703-n-call-for-bioscience-skills-careers-postdoctoral-researcher-subgroup-members/