0683-24 - Post Doctoral Research Associate in Pharmaceutics - KTP Associate

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Aston Pharmacy School
Location:  Eye-Docs Limited, 50 Lode Lane, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 2AW
Salary:  £35,000 per annum
Contract Type:  Fixed Term (30 months)
Basis:  Full Time
Closing Date:  23.59 hours GMT on Wednesday 19 February 2025
Interview Date:  Monday 10 March 2025
Reference:  0683-24
Release Date:  Monday 20 January 2025

This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project aims to utilise surgical theatre capacity as cleanroom facilities to develop novel pharmaceutical formulations for the treatment of Dry Eye Disease.

Eye-Docs (Midland Eye) is a private Ophthalmic Services clinic, providing patients with a comprehensive, specialist service for the diagnosis and treatment of all eye conditions.

The KTP will embed key pharmaceutical expertise in the selection, compatibility testing and novel carrier methods for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and excipients (medicines components that are not the actual drug). This will leave Midland Eye with a drug formulation ‘toolkit’ for formulation development, enabling them to bring novel eyecare treatments to market.

Candidate Profile: PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences or a closely related discipline. They should have a strong understanding of pharmaceutical formulations and process development.

Skills/ experience required include:

Essential

• Experience in characterisation of excipient, preparing nano-formulations of particulate system, analytical method development, and process design and optimisation.
• Demonstrable experience of analytical method development, in vitro assays for assessing formulation performance and formulation of nanoparticulate systems.
• Strong IT skills including use of Microsoft (Word, PowerPoint and Excel) to produce reports, presentations and manage data.
• Able to work as part of a multi-disciplinary collaborative team with the capacity to take the lead role in order to deliver research objectives and milestones on time.
• Good verbal and written communication skills with the ability to liaise with all stakeholders, including potential customers and the steering group.

Desirable

• Prior experience working within the pharmaceutical industry or in research to demonstrate an understanding of the challenges and benefits of collaborative projects.
• An understanding of medicines regulation.

Main responsibilities: 

• Review and plan implementation of Midland Eye theatre facilities as dual-use facility cleanrooms for drug preparation.
• Utilise these cleanroom facilities to prepare formulations for specialised eyecare drugs, particularly where there is poor patient tolerance or efficacy/longevity.
• The project will utilise novel Dry Eye Disease (DED) formulation development as an exemplar to embed skills in:
• API and excipient screening, compatibility and characterisation.
• Particulate delivery systems (polymer-based/surfactant or lipid-based).
• Manufacturing protocols and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Decision-making toolkit to correlate physico-chemical properties of APIs and excipient selection for optimum formulation approach.

Personal attributes:

• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• The ability to work within a cross-disciplinary project team
• Leadership and maturity of communication and organisation skills to deliver the KTP project and ensure it achieves agreed milestones and objectives 
• Ability to work independently and use initiative
• Strong desire to pursue innovative approaches and pathways
• Ability to work closely with all stakeholders and establish an effective knowledge transfer process in the company

Additional Benefits and support:

Career prospects: 

60% of our KTP associates are being offered employment by the companies at the end of the KTP.

KTP’s are a proven springboard for Associates who wish to develop careers in consultancy, change management, operations or as University academics in PhD programmes. 

This is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) funded by Eye-Docs (Midland Eye) Limited and Innovate UK . 

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are collaborative, three-way partnerships creating positive impact and driving innovation by linking various businesses with the UK's world class knowledge bases to deliver innovation projects led by skilled graduates. 

It is essential you understand how KTP works and the vital role you will play if you secure this position. To learn more please visit: www.aston.ac.uk/ktp

The Company: Eye-Docs (Midland Eye) is a private Ophthalmic Services clinic in Solihull, providing patients with a comprehensive, specialist service for the diagnosis and treatment of all eye conditions. https://midlandeye.com/  

Aston University: You will work in a project team with Professor Afzal Mohammed, and Dr Daniel Kirby from Aston University and the Senior Management Team at Eye-Docs with the support of the IUK’s Knowledge Transfer Adviser.  

Location: You will be based at Eye-Docs Limited, 50 Lode Lane, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 2AW but will have access to facilities at Aston University in central Birmingham. Some travel to key clients may also be required.

For informal enquiries about this role please contact Professor Afzal Mohammed: a.u.r.mohammed@aston.ac.uk or Dr Daniel Kirby: d.j.kirby@aston.ac.uk

If you think this isn’t the right opportunity for you, please explore other KTP vacancies across the country: https://www.ktp-uk.org/jobs/  

Aston University is committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN Charter http://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charter-marks/athena-swan  . We pride ourselves on our vibrant, friendly, supportive working environment and collaborative atmosphere.

Please visit our website https://jobs.aston.ac.uk/Vacancies.aspx for further information and to apply online.  

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

This role is likely to meet the criteria for endorsement under the ‘Endorsed Funder’ route of the Global Talent visa. The Global Talent visa route is available for talented and promising academics, researchers and specialists who are working in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, the social sciences or the humanities. Please see the published Home Office guidance: https://www.gov.uk/global-talent.&nbsp ;

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