Garvan Institute of Medical Research brings together world leading scientists and clinicians, collaborating locally and globally, to advance our understanding of disease, particularly cancer, autoimmunity and genetic disorders. Garvan is a global leader in fundamental biomedical research and its translation. Our mission is to make discoveries that will improve health for all.
To support this vision, the Garvan Institute has established strategic programs which bring together research expertise and cutting-edge technologies from across Garvan, along with clinical, industry and consumer partners. The Cancer Plasticity and Dormancy Program, led by A/Prof Christine Chaffer and Prof Peter Croucher, is one of seven strategic programs at the Garvan Institute.
The Cancer Plasticity and Dormancy Program is focused on discovering the fundamental control mechanisms that regulate cancer cell dormancy and cancer relapse. Our goal is to develop tools to predict relapse and develop new treatments to stop relapse before it occurs. There is a focus on understanding relapse in cancers that spread to the skeleton including multiple myeloma, breast and prostate cancer. The program has recently established the AllClear program, supported by a major collaborative research accelerator grant from the National Breast Cancer Foundation, to tackle cancer relapse in breast cancer. This is a major national and international collaborative program and flagship activity for the program.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Research Assistant provides essential technical and operational support to a research laboratory or group. The primary purpose of this role is to enable and facilitate high-quality medical research while optimising productivity through technical expertise and efficient resource management. Appointees typically hold a Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s Degree and work with an increasing sense of direction and autonomy as they gain experience. Research Assistants are appointed on a salary scale depending on level of experience, performance and requirements of the role required within the lab/group.
Salary: Up to $90,000 (depending on experience) + 14% super + salary packaging
Employment Type: 2 year fixed-term contract with possibility to extend
SNAPSHOT OF BENEFITS
Generous salary packaging to save you income tax on your wages thereby boosting your monthly take home pay (max. $15,900 general expenses + $2,650 meals/accom)
Ample opportunities for on-going training and development
Stimulating, diverse and highly international research environment
Flexible work arrangements e.g. start / finish times
18 weeks paid parental leave for both parents including paid superannuation
A range of additional leave types to meet your personal needs including cultural leave, conference leave, community service and study leave
Discounted Health Insurance
Lifestyle discounts with our community partners
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Depending on level of experience and requirements of the role, a Research Assistant is typically expected to:
Scientific Excellence
Experimental Execution: Conduct experiments and analyses – including tissue culture, western blotting, and routine assays – while establishing and maintaining robust methods and protocols.
Optimisation: Review current protocols and relevant literature to identify opportunities to improve, optimise, or implement new research techniques.
Specialist Advice: Provide technical advice to researchers within the group regarding specific research methods, instruments, and analysis tools.
Data integrity: Ensure all research data is accurate, high-quality, and conforms to good scientific practice, ensuring it is accessible to other researchers as required.
Scientific Communication: Communicate experimental results to researchers and collaborators through written reports and effective visual formats.
Scholarly Contribution: Assist in the preparation of research papers and contribute content to grant applications and research proposals.
Team Leadership
Mentorship & Training: Train students, postdocs, and peers on data collection, specialised instruments, and laboratory safety protocols.
Personal Growth: Take responsibility for own professional development by attending workshops and seeking to learn new techniques to support the group’s evolving research needs.
Team Collaboration: Work effectively as a reliable and approachable member of the research team, fostering a collaborative environment.
Resources & Planning
Operational Management: Manage the group’s daily operations, including the coordination of consumables, samples, and equipment maintenance.
Lab Coordination: Manage internal communications, such as scheduling team meetings and research presentations.
Compliance & Outputs: Manage research data and outputs to ensure compliance with open access requirements of funding bodies and publishers.
Project Delivery: Balance the competing needs and timelines of multiple research projects within the lab and with external collaborators to meet deadlines.
Institute Contributions
Values & Integrity: Demonstrate scientific and professional integrity at all times, acting as a role model for ethical behaviour.
Active Participation: Contribute to the wider institute community by participating in committees, outreach projects, or donor activities.
ABOUT YOU
The key skills and experience include:
Essential
Bachelor’s Degree in Science or Medicine (preferably with Honours)
Relevant experience (at least 1 year) in cancer cell biology or immunology
Experience with animal models of cancer, including animal handling, dosing (IV, IP, SC), and tissue collection
Experience with processing human samples (blood, bone marrow, and/or tissue)
Experience with cell biology, immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy and image analysis, flow cytometry
Molecular biology skills (western blotting, qPCR)
Ability to rapidly learn new techniques
Results-oriented
Excellent time management and ability to prioritise tasks
Display innovative and proactive abilities
Comfortable with moderate decision making
Desirable
Possess strong computing skills including basic bioinformatic analysis, particularly with regard to RNA-seq methodologies
Experience with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing
Expertise/knowledge in the field of cancer immunology or tumour microenvironment
ABOUT GARVAN
Garvan Institute of Medical Research is an independent Medical Research Institute (MRI) in Sydney, delivering scientific and clinical impact on a global basis and in partnership with organisations that share our vision. We are proud to be one of Australia’s largest and most highly regarded MRI’s.
Our vision is global leadership in discoveries to impact and our enduring purpose is to impact human health, by harnessing information encoded in our genome.
We seek to see our world-class discovery research achieve life-changing impacts, not only for individual patients with rare diseases, but for the many thousands affected by complex, common disease.
Garvan promotes a diverse workplace and is committed to the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. We are always looking for culture ‘add’, not culture ‘fit’ and are building diverse teams with great sets of complementary styles and skills to help deliver our important work effectively.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for this position, please submit your application with a CV and cover letter as one document, stating why you are interested in this role. We are reviewing applications as they are received. If you think you’re the right person for this role, we’d love to hear how your capabilities, achievements and experience set you apart. Only applicants with full working rights in Australia are eligible to apply for this role.
