UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN



|UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN |

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|COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES AND MEDICINE |

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|SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY |

|DIVISION OF APPLIED HEALTH SCIENCES |

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|EMBRYOLOGY LABORATORY MANAGER |

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|YAU010A |

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|FURTHER PARTICULARS FOR APPLICANTS |

|1. THE POST |

The post holder must manage and provide strategic scientific leadership for the ARU Embryology Laboratory. The post holder must provide clinical and intellectual support to embryology staff within the legislation in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act and the HFE Authority Code of Practice whilst maintaining professional registration with the Association of Clinical Embryologists. This post would suit an individual who has completed a relevant PhD and has managerial experience.

Applicants should have completed ACE certification (or have equivalent experience) and have extensive experience in HPC registration. Laboratory experience should include ICSI and cryopreservation including vitrification techniques. This post will require the post holder to provide scientific input at Management Meetings, present and interpret laboratory results. The post holder will also maintain and upgrade SOPs, organise regular audits and implement changes to working practices to ensure the Unit provides a high standard of service.

The main role will be to manage the Embryology team of three trained and experienced Embryologists, one newly qualified and one trainee about to qualify, a new trainee and a laboratory technician. The post holder will also be expected to keep abreast of recent scientific and other developments in assisted reproduction techniques, including any new legislation that may affect laboratory operation, and ensure compliance with new legislation. This is a full time post.

RESEARCH

Active research programmes exist in reproductive medicine and as such you should have a demonstrable interest in research. All research will comply with Aberdeen University Guidelines on Research Governance

|2. THE UNIVERSITY |

The University of Aberdeen, which was founded in 1495, has over 14,000 full-time matriculated students. The University is a world-class research-led centre of learning and teaching excellence. Coupled with these excellent results, the biological and medical researchers have a strong track record of grant income from the UK research councils, EU and medical charities.

The University has two campuses. The King’s College Campus retains its medieval layout and village atmosphere, its fifteenth-century cathedral and its sixteenth-century university chapel. This heritage is fused with modern, state of the art facilities for research, learning and teaching, making it fit for purpose for the students of today. The Foresterhill campus is approximately 1.5 miles from King’s, a comfortable walk through leafy streets. The University currently employs more than 3900 staff including 1600 academics and has a turnover in excess of £200 million per annum (web site: ).

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise eleven of our research areas were ranked among the top 25% in the UK: Agriculture and Food Sciences, Computing Science, English Language and Literature, French, Health Services Research, History, Hospital Based Clinical Subjects, Pure Mathematics, Town and Country Planning, Sociology, Theology and Divinity and Religious Studies.

The University's organisational and management structure operates within a devolved managerial and budget system. Academic units are grouped into three colleges: Arts and Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Medicine and Physical Sciences.

The College of Life Sciences and Medicine was created in 2003 as part of organisational restructuring throughout the University. The College, led by Professor Michael Greaves, Head of College, is home to over 3000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, and is internationally recognised as a research-led centre for teaching excellence.

The key purpose of the structures within the College is to promote fruitful collaboration between all sections of the College and also opportunities for developments between medical, biomedical and life sciences. There are very close working relationships between the College and NHS Grampian, facilitated by the conjoint campus with consequent opportunities for collaboration. The College is also involved in a range of significant commercial activities.

The College comprises the following five Schools:

• School of Biological Sciences (Head of School: Prof Chris Secombes)

• School of Medicine and Dentistry (Head of School: Prof Mike Greaves)

• School of Medical Sciences (Head of School: Prof Colin McCaig)

• School of Psychology (Head of School: Dr Peter McGeorge)

• Graduate School (Director of School: Dr Bernadette Connolly)

The Schools of Medicine & Dentistry and Medical Sciences are co-located within two research institutes on the Foresterhill Medical Campus: the Institute of Applied Health Sciences and the Institute of Medical Sciences (see sections below). Both Institutes have recently benefited from refurbished high-quality accommodation with funds from the Wellcome Trust, SRIF, SHEFC and the University. Researchers have access to a comprehensive range of analytical and support facilities including expertise in epidemiology, medical sociology, psychology, health economics, health informatics, health services research, software engineering and statistics.

The University of Aberdeen's Clinical Research Facility is housed within the brand new 3379m² Health Sciences Building. Partly funded by Scottish Funding Council, the University of Aberdeen and the Wolfson Foundation, this facility opened in August 2006.

On the adjacent Woodend hospital site, there are unrivalled imaging facilities including two state of the art Medical Resonance Imaging scanners, one open access and one upright facility. At the medical school site access is freely available for Positron Emission Tomography and an additional research MRI scanner. We have the only positional MRI scanner (pMRI) in Europe.

The Schools of Biological Sciences and Psychology are located a short distance away on the historic Old Aberdeen Campus, which houses the rest of the University.

School of Medicine and Dentistry

Facilitated by the conjoint campus with consequent opportunities for collaboration, the School enjoys a very close working relationship with NHS Grampian. Many of the academics of the School contribute to the clinical services provided by our partner Health Trusts and a significant number also have national roles in health service development.

The School has an excellent record in teaching and the most recent teaching quality assessments awarded ratings of excellent for undergraduate medical teaching. As well as MB ChB teaching (intake c 175 per annum), the School offers an intercalated degree programme of BSc Med Sci, a degree of BSc (Health Sciences) and a range of taught Master’s courses. In addition to strength in curricular development and innovative teaching methods, there is distinction in IT learning, in which the School’s Medi-Cal Unit is a recognised leader.

The School of Medicine & Dentistry and the School of Medical Sciences have a joint approach to research. Aberdeen is unique in having internationally recognised strengths in both biomedical and population-based research and robust partnerships exist between the Schools’ researchers and health care professionals working in both primary and secondary care. Following the 2001 RAE, 60% of submitted staff in the schools were in 5 or 5* rated units.

A manifesto commitment by the Scottish National Party to improve dental services in Scotland, especially in the rural and remote areas of the country has resulted in the development of a dental school in the Grampian Region. Scheduled to open in October 2008, the first new Dental School in Scotland for almost 100 years will be based in the Aberdeen Dental Institute on the Foresterhill site alongside the University of Aberdeen’s School of Medicine, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. It will incorporate a new-build, state of the art facility that will allow the training of 15-20 dental students in each year of a 4-year course and also dental care professionals. The dental students will be graduates, initially of the biomedical sciences but hopefully graduates from oral health sciences, nursing and other science-related subjects will be considered in due course. Although the dental curriculum will initially be administered by the University of Dundee Dental School, the overall educational experience will be managed jointly by the University of Aberdeen and the University of Dundee. It is planned that a joint degree will be awarded and students will be matriculated at both institutions. The University of Aberdeen will be responsible for student welfare and counselling, although expertise will be available from Dundee for those students who may have difficulty with dental aspects of the course.

School of Medical Sciences

The School of Medical Sciences consists of the current 3 groupings:

• Biomedical Physics and Bio-Engineering

• Biomedical Sciences

• Molecular and Cell Biology

The School provides a wide range of teaching in undergraduate biological subjects (which were rated as “excellent“in the most recent teaching quality assessments), including the following honours degree programmes:

• Biochemistry

• Biomedical Sciences

• Biotechnology

• Genetics

• Human Life Sciences

• Medical Sciences

• Microbiology

• Molecular Microbiology

• Neuroscience with Psychology

• Pharmacology

• Physiology

• Sports and Exercise Science

• Sports Studies

There is a lively and substantial postgraduate population on PhD and MSc programmes. Currently the MSc programmes on offer include:

• Biomedical Engineering

• Information Technology (Medical Physics)

• Medical Imaging

• Medical Molecular Genetics

• Medical Physics

• Molecular Exercise Physiology

• Medical Physics Computing

• Medical Biotechnology (with Bio-business)

• Laboratory Research Methods MRes

The School of Medicine and the School of Medical Sciences have a joint approach to research. Aberdeen is unique in having internationally recognised strengths in both biomedical and population-based research and robust partnerships exist between the Schools’ researchers and health care professionals working in both primary and secondary care. Following the 2001 RAE, 60% of submitted staff in the schools were in 5 or 5* rated units.

Research in the two schools is organised into two separate research institutes – the Institute of Applied Health Sciences and the Institute of Medical Sciences. (Please see Sections 5 and 6). Both Institutes have recently benefited from refurbished high-quality accommodation with funds from the Wellcome Trust, SRIF, SHEFC and the University. Researchers have access to a comprehensive range of analytical and support facilities including expertise in epidemiology, medical sociology, psychology, health economics, health informatics, health services research, software engineering and statistics. In addition, a brand-new, purpose built medical research facility became operational in 2003. A dedicated secure facility is also provided for research involving experimental infections with hazard group 3 microbial pathogens.

There is a new four-storey Clinical Research Facility which was opened on the main Medical School site in 2006.

On the adjacent Woodend hospital site, there are unrivalled imaging facilities including two state of the art Medical Resonance Imaging scanners, one open access and one upright facility. At the medical school site access is freely available for Positron Emission Tomography and an additional research MRI scanner. We have the only positional MRI scanner (pMRI) in Europe.

School of Biological Sciences

The School of Biological Sciences has research and teaching interests which include all aspects of biology, ranging from applied, ecological work, through to immunology and molecular genetics. We study microbes, plants and animals, and our studies range from the high Arctic to the tropics. We work in forests, mountains, rivers, and seas, as well as in recently re-furbished and excellent laboratories. We have a suite of undergraduate and MSc degrees covering these wide-ranging subject areas and are very active in research. Our teaching was rated as ‘excellent’ in the most recent teaching quality assessment and ninety-five percent of staff in the School are from units graded excellent (5) in the last research assessment exercise.

Our teaching is enhanced by having three field stations, as well as access to many staff from local research institutes, covering marine and freshwater biology, animal and human nutrition and sustainable land-use. Our field stations are at Bettyhill, in Sutherland, used mainly for plant ecology field work; at Cromarty, where staff and students work mainly on marine mammals and birds; and at Newburgh, on the shores of the Ythan Estuary, where the focus is on deep-ocean biology. Most of our degrees require extensive field work and we also support student-led expeditions, which have recently visited sites all over the tropics and at high latitudes. Our teaching facilities have just been re-furbished and, with our Zoology Museum and Botanic Garden, are based in the heart of Old Aberdeen. The breadth of our work means that we have a set of flexible and focussed degrees that cover all aspects of biology and our graduate careers record is excellent.

The research activities of the School are organised through the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences (IBES), and this research work is split into three themes (Biological Interactions in Soil, Ecology, and Integrative Physiology). Key strengths within these themes include the plant-soil-microbe interface, soil isotope chemistry, animal and plant population ecology, deep ocean biology, cetacean biology, fish immunology, vector biology and mammalian integrative physiology. We have a strong international reputation in these areas and regularly publish in the highest impact journals such as Nature and Science. There is also a large postgraduate research school, where training and career development go hand in hand with laboratory and field work. To allow us to pursue this range of research we have facilities for keeping animals, such as marine and freshwater aquaria, and analytical and molecular genetics laboratories, as well as access to some of the finest and most varied natural environments in Britain.

School of Psychology

Psychology at Aberdeen began in 1896 with the appointment of George F Stout as Lecturer in Comparative Psychology, the first lectureship in Psychology in the UK.

The School of Psychology forms part of the College of Life Sciences and Medicine. Research within the School is arranged around four themes; Cognition, Health & Industrial Psychology, Perception & Action and Social Neuroscience. The School provides a high quality research environment with access to wide range of specialist laboratories and equipment (including ERP, fMRI, Optotrack, ProReflex, Psychophysics workstation, and eye trackers). The facilities are supported by research income from diverse sources including Research Councils, Charities and Industrial/Health Sponsors.

The School has buoyant undergraduate and postgraduate student numbers. In 2005 - 2006 there were approximately 480 Level 1 students and 270 Level 2 students, over 150 Level 3 students (of whom 96 are Junior Honours) and 85 Level 4 students (Senior Honours). At postgraduate level the School offers an ESRC accredited Masters in Research Methods, a course that all new research students are required to take in their first year. There are currently around 40 postgraduate students, mainly studying for PhD.

Further information is available on the School’s web pages:

|3. THE INSTITUTE OF APPLIED HEALTH SCIENCES (IAHS) |

The Director of the Institute of Applied Health Sciences (IAHS) is Professor Phil Hannaford.

The Institute’s mission is to improve health and health care delivery through excellence in applied health sciences research.

IAHS will achieve this mission by creating a vibrant research culture that provides staff with the support and facilities required for the efficient conduct of research into the need for, access to, and delivery of healthcare. The research continues to contribute locally, nationally and internationally to the evidence base needed by individuals, health care providers and organisations when making decisions about maximising health and optimising health care services. As well as producing high quality research findings, the Institute contributes to building capacity in health service research by providing training and development opportunities for its members.

The Institute’s research strategy is based on upon applying current methodological strength to selected clinical topics. The methodological strengths are constant, whilst the clinical areas are subject to more variation. It is anticipated that clinical areas will vary in their degree of prominence over time.

Current areas of methodological strength include:

• Cohort studies

• Health Economic Research, notably in

• Measuring public preferences and values

• Incentives and performance

• Health Technology Assessment

• Health Services Research, notably in

• The organisation and delivery of care

• Systematic reviews

• The international health setting

• The primary care setting

• Applied renal research

• Common symptoms, especially chronic pain

• Reproductive health

• Respiratory disease

Current clinical areas of strength include:

• Applied renal research

• Common symptoms, especially chronic pain

• Reproductive health

• Respiratory disease

For further information on the IAHS, please go to abdn.ac.uk/iahs

|4. THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (IMS) |

The Institute of Medical Sciences opened in 1996 and was the first stage of a ~£50 million development of the research and teaching infrastructure at the Foresterhill site. The completed development will see the hospital site augmented by the Institute of Medical Sciences, the Medical Research Facility, the Institute of Applied Health Sciences, the Matthew Hay Clinical Training Centre and the new spin-out incubator research units, which are co-funded with Scottish Enterprise. This ambitious development programme, which is now over 80% of the way to completion, has been funded by donations, grant awards and University core funds. The Wellcome Trust has made major contributions to the development and has in addition supported major research programmes in the Institute, including provision of funds for the development of essential infrastructure.

The IMS building houses more than 350 scientists and support staff. Principal investigators lead cutting edge molecular and cell biology research in a variety of fields and work closely with their clinical colleagues. The Principal Investigators represent an international pooling of talent with staff drawn from the UK, USA, New Zealand, China, Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands. Current grant income is approximately £42m that is raised from charities, government and UK research councils. Many young staff have established their careers through prestigious fellowships awarded by The Royal Society, The Lister Institute, the MRC and a number of charitable organisations.

In order to further the effectiveness of research management, and in keeping with the policy of concentrating on areas of distinctive strength, the Institute has created selective research themes. The research themes have recently undergone revision, taking account of RAE results, to create more focused and relevant programmes. The Programmes are detailed below:

● Bone and Musculoskeletal 

● Cancer Biology 

● Cell and Developmental Biology 

● Immunology 

● Imaging 

● Molecular Exercise Physiology Group 

● Microbiology 

● Neurobiology 

● Physiology and Pharmacology 

● Systems Biology 

● Translational Medicine 

● Vascular 

The IMS combines state-of-the-art laboratory accommodation with excellent facilities for social interaction and well-equipped seminar and meeting rooms.  Core facilities that are accessible to all IMS staff include DNA sequencing and fragment analysis, quantitative PCR, DNA microarrays, Proteomics, CG-MS and LC-MS, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

For further information on the IMS, please see abdn.ac.uk/ims/

|5. THE COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES AND MEDICINE |

The College comprises the following five academic Schools, supported by the Graduate School:

• School of Biological Sciences (Head of School: Prof Elizabeth Baggs)

• School of Medicine and Dentistry (Head of School: Prof David Reid)

• School of Medical Sciences (Head of School: Prof Colin McCaig)

• School of Psychology (Head of School: Prof Neil MacRae)

• The Rowett Institute for Nutrition and Health (Director: Prof Peter Morgan)

• Graduate School (Director of School: Dr Bernadette Connolly)

The College of Life Sciences and Medicine was created in 2003 as part of organisational restructuring throughout the University. The College, led by Professor Mike Greaves, Head of College, is home to over 3000 undergraduate and postgraduate students, and is internationally recognised as a research-led centre for teaching excellence and increasingly commercialisation. The College is run by the Head of College and Heads of School, who have line management responsibilities, with strategic direction and leadership provided by College Directors of Teaching and Research together with Directors of Research Institutes.

The main driver for the creation of Colleges was to create organisational units large enough to provide managerial, budgetary and planning capacity to determine their own strategies and to manage their own finances at a high level. Within Colleges, structures have been created to support staff and to promote research and teaching collaborations. This also applies to working between the Colleges to ensure interdisciplinary work flourishes.

The School of Medicine and Dentistry and School of Medical Sciences are co-located within two research institutes on the Foresterhill Medical Campus: the Institute of Applied Health Sciences and the Institute of Medical Sciences. The Schools of Biological Sciences (with its Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences) and Psychology are located a short distance away on the historic Old Aberdeen Campus, which houses the rest of the University. The College has benefitted from significant estate and infrastructure development in the past 10 years with refurbishments of its Polwarth, Cruickshank and Zoology buildings, the last incorporating a science teaching facility. New build projects have created the Institute of Medical Sciences, the Medical Research Facility, the Health Sciences Building, the deep sea facilities at Oceanlab 1 and 2, the Life Science Innovation building and the Suttie Centre for Teaching and Learning in Healthcare.

Looking ahead, a major new build project is in planning, a new home at Foresterhill for the Rowett Research Institute that merged with the University in summer 2008.

|6. THE CITY OF ABERDEEN |

With the population approaching 250,000, Aberdeen is big enough to provide all the advantages of city life, yet compact enough to enjoy the more intimate atmosphere usually associated with small towns.

Aberdeen caters for a wide range of tastes in sporting and cultural activities.  To find out more about Aberdeen and its surrounding area go to and click on Aberdeen on the map.

|7. SALARY AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT |

Should you require a visa to undertake paid employment in the UK you will be required to fulfil the minimum points criteria to be granted a Certificate of Sponsorship and Tier 2 visa. As appropriate, at the time an offer of appointment is made you will be asked to demonstrate that you fulfil the criteria in respect of financial maintenance and competency in English. Please do not hesitate to contact Deborah Marwick, Trainee HR Adviser, for further information on this.

It is the policy of the University, in line with the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, that the postholder is a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme. Any offer of employment will be conditional on a satisfactory Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme Record check being received.

Salary will be at the appropriate point on the Grade 8 salary scale with negotiations dependant on qualifications and experience.

|8. APPLICATION PROCEDURE |

Informal enquires may be made to Alison McTavish (tel: 01224 554482, (email a.r.mctavish@abdn.ac.uk) or Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya (email s.bhattacharya@abdn.ac.uk).

PLEASE DO NOT SEND CV’S OR APPLICATIONS FORMS TO THE SCHOOL OR COLLEGE

Online application forms and further information is available at abdn.ac.uk/jobs.

Please quote reference YAU010A on all correspondence.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 13 May 2013.

The University pursues a policy of equal opportunities in the appointment and promotion of staff.

UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

PERSON SPECIFICATION

|POST NO: YAU010A |TITLE: LABORATORY MANAGER |

| | |

|GRADE: 8 |SECTION/SCHOOL : School of Medicine and Dentistry |

| |Division of Applied Health Sciences |

| | | |

| |ESSENTIAL |DESIRABLE |

|1. EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS |Association of Clinical Embryologists Certificate/Diploma ( or |Relevant PhD |

|Academic, technical and professional education and training. |equivalent experience) | |

| |HPC Registration | |

|2. WORK AND OTHER RELEVANT |ICSI practitioner |Previous experience of auditing practice. |

|EXPERIENCE (INCLUDING TRAINING) |Cryopreservation including Vitrification experience |Evidence of relevant publications |

|e g Specialist knowledge, levels of experience, skills, supervisory | | |

|experience, research. | | |

|3. PERSONAL QUALITIES AND ABILITIES |Excellent communication skills, both written and oral | |

|e g Initiative, leadership, ability to work on own or with others, |Ability to work independently and as part of a team | |

|communication skills. | | |

|4. OTHER |Flexible working pattern which includes weekends | |

|e g Special circumstances (if any) appropriate to the job such as unsocial | | |

|hours, travelling, physical requirements etc. | | |

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