The Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre (NASC) provides seeds resources to the wider plant research community. NASC was established in 1991 and it is based in the Plant and Crop Science division of the School of Biosciences at Sutton Bonington campus. NASC's activities are coordinated with those of the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC) at Ohio State University, USA. This facilitates a unified and efficient service for the plant research community. NASC bulk approx. 5,000-7000 stocks every year that need to be harvested, curated and integrated into the general collection.
The role
We are seeking a Curation Assistant to help us process the new seed stocks harvested in 2024 and 2025. This includes cleaning, aliquoting and integrating thousands of stocks into our different seed rooms as well as preparing additional seed tubes to send to our colleagues at ABRC. You will also make sure any outstanding order is completed, packaged and dispatched using NASC web-based tools and different courier accounts (DHL, FedEx).
As a key member of our team, you will work closely with both, NASC's Bioinformatics and Seed Teams, to make sure harvested stocks are available for distribution as soon as possible. You will also be responsible for organising NASC seed collection across six storage rooms.
This is a fixed-term, part-time (30 hours per week) post until 28 February 2026, with the potential for further extension subject to funding.
Your experience
a minimum of two A Levels in relevant subjects or equivalent vocational qualifications (NVQ, City & Guild), plus some experience in a relevant technical/scientific role or considerable work experience in a relevant technical/scientific role
ability to adopt a methodical approach to work in order to achieve work deadlines
previous relevant experience in a production glasshouse or laboratory environment
familiarity with plant husbandry and seed storage requirements ideally with Arabidopsis or Brassicaceae
good IT literacy skills
Your approach
Positive and proactive.
A willingness to learn and develop.
Flexible and happy to engage in new opportunities and challenges.
Ability to develop novel solutions to problems.
Ability to communicate your advice and thoughts to other staff members.
Further information is available in the role profile. To apply for this vacancy please click ‘Apply Now’ to complete your details.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Marcos Castellanos, Operations Manager, marcos.castellanos@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.
Location: Plant Sciences Building, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington campus
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