At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we’re on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges in four transformative areas:
This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you’ll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society. Explore more at www.eit.org
Welcome to the Generative Biology Institute:
Led by Founding Director Jason Chin, the Generative Biology Institute (GBI) at the Ellison Institute of Technology is tackling the key challenges in making biology engineerable, and thereby unlocking the unrivalled power of biology for the benefit of humanity.
The vision of the GBI is to lay the foundations for engineering biology, and unlock its potential for good. To achieve this, we must overcome two key challenges. First, we need the ability to write in the natural language of biology, enabling the rapid and scalable synthesis of entire genomes with precision. Second, we must understand what to write - determining which DNA sequences will generate biological systems that perform the desired functions. Addressing these challenges will allow us to harness the full power of biology to create transformative solutions across health, agriculture, clean energy and more.
GBI will have sustained and substantial funding to support the unique scale and ambition of its ground-breaking vision for engineering biology. GBI researchers will also be supported by cutting-edge technology hubs including mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, sequencing, automation, imaging, and bioprocessing. GBI will also have access to substantial compute resources that can be leveraged to further accelerate progress, including scientific compute, bioinformatics, and machine learning. The environment at GBI will allow researchers to undertake ambitious, long-term, collaborative research, and we will actively support the translation of research to commercial applications, where appropriate.
The Generative Biology Institute commenced operations in 2025, occupying newly renovated bespoke space in the Oxford Science Park. The team will later move to a purpose-made facility in the Oxford Science Park, currently under construction. Once complete, this state-of-the-art facility will include more than 40,000 m² of research laboratory and office space. It will house over 30 groups and up to 600 employees at scale, focused on solving the two critical challenges in making biology engineerable and applying the solutions to addressing the global challenges encapsulated in EIT’s Humane Endeavors.
We are seeking ambitious, creative, and highly skilled Postdoctoral Researchers to join the Generative Biology Institute (GBI). This is your opportunity to be part of cutting-edge research within an institute dedicated to engineering biology at an unprecedented scale. In this role you will support an internationally competitive research programme, leveraging GBI’s exceptional facilities, sustained funding, and collaborative environment. You will design and execute experiments, contribute to high-impact publications, and play a key role in the training and mentorship of junior researchers and students. Working at the interface of biology, technology, and engineering, you will help shape GBI’s vision to reimagine what’s possible in biology.
We advertise opportunities across all of our GBI research groups on our careers page. If you are interested in joining the Generative Biology Institute (GBI) but are unsure which group is the best fit, or if you are interested in future opportunities, we encourage you to apply to this role. You may also apply directly to any specific group listed on our careers page that best aligns with your background and interests.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. In your cover letter, please outline your interest in the GBI, your suitability for our research environment, and your relevant experience.
All applications must be submitted exclusively through the EIT job portal. Due to the high volume of applications, please note that the review and decision process may take up to 3–6 months.
Requirements
Key Responsibilities for all Postdoctoral Researchers:
This list is not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to undertake additional tasks and duties commensurate with the role.
Essential and Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Benefits
We offer the following benefits:
Why work for EIT:
At the Ellison Institute, we believe a collaborative, inclusive team is key to our success. We are building a supportive environment where creative risks are encouraged, and everyone feels heard. Valuing emotional intelligence, empathy, respect, and resilience, we encourage people to be curious and to have a shared commitment to excellence. Join us and make an impact!
Terms of Appointment
Led by a world-class faculty of scientists, technologists, policy makers, economists and entrepreneurs, the Ellison Institute of Technology aims to deliver scaled solutions to humanity's important problems.
By breaking down the silos between science, research, industry and policy, we are reimagining the path from scientific discovery to applied solutions for the benefit of society.
Set for completion in 2027, the EIT Campus in Littlemore will include more than 300,000 sq ft of research laboratories, educational and gathering spaces.
Fuelled by growing ambition and the strength of Oxford’s science ecosystem, EIT is now expanding its footprint to a 2 million sq ft Campus across the western part of The Oxford Science Park.
Designed by Foster + Partners led by Lord Norman Foster, this will become a transformative workplace for up to 7,000 people, with autonomous laboratories, purpose-built laboratories including a plant sciences building and dynamic spaces to spark interdisciplinary collaboration.
