Classification: Academic Level A
Salary package: $89,313 - $112,103 per annum plus 17% superannuation
Term: Full Time, Fixed Term (up to 31/12/28)
Position Description and Selection Criteria please visit the official ANU Jobs website to download the document:
Position Summary
• Join the world-class Plant SynBio Australia - ANU (PSBA-ANU) facility and grow your career with a young, vibrant and collaborative research team.
• Build your research profile with academic freedom, pushing scientific boundaries in plant synthetic biology, driving the PSBA-ANU state-of-the-art high-throughput automation and robotics platform.
• Explore R&D commercialisation opportunities through the strong PSBA-ANU industry partnerships, developing your career in a cutting-edge field
The Position
As a Postdoctoral Fellow, you will join Plant SybBio Australia - ANU, a flagship node of Australia's first national plant synthetic biology infrastructure. Working alongside sibling nodes at the University of Adelaide, La Trobe University, and the University of Western Australia, PSBA-ANU is driving a transformative national effort to push the scientific frontiers of plant synthetic biology, accelerate translation from lab and glasshouse to field and industry, and create real impact for Australia's Agrifood sector.
At PSBA-ANU, our research is built on two core pillars: Accelerated Plant Breeding and Plant SynBio Automation. In this role, you will have the opportunity to apply your creativity and technical expertise across both areas, developing new methods for laboratory robotics and automation, aiding high-value crop transformation, pioneering next-generation molecular breeding technologies, engineering novel orthogonal genetic circuitry, dissecting plant metabolic pathways using our robotic discovery platform, and transferring these pathways into row crops for scalable production. This is a position with unmatched scope, where your work can open entirely new scientific and commercial horizons.
You will be part of a dynamic team of 11 PhD-level scientists, bringing together diverse strengths in molecular biology, plant physiology, and mechanical engineering. Supported by multi-million-dollar research investment, PSBA-ANU houses state-of-the-art technologies and a sophisticated automation and robotics suite that empowers high-throughput discovery and innovation.
Embedded within the ANU Research School of Biology, you will also be connected to an exceptional scientific community with world-leading expertise, including long-standing strengths including C4 rice, photosynthesis research and chloroplast biology. As a member of a national multi-node facility, you will have opportunities to visit and collaborate with teams across Australia, exchanging ideas with other talented early-career researchers within the PSBA network.
The Person
We are seeking a highly collaborative and innovative Postdoctoral Fellow who is excited to join our passionate and energetic team at the forefront of plant synthetic biology. You will hold a postgraduate degree and bring a developing research track record in a relevant field—such as plant genetics, synthetic biology, engineering biology, bioinformatics, bio-medical engineering, or computational biology—supported by strong working knowledge in biochemistry and molecular biology.
You will be an experienced wet-lab scientist with excellent experimental skills and a passion for designing robust, scalable methodologies. Your ability to engineer new experimental approaches and generate high-volume, high-quality data will be central to our automation-driven workflows. Experience in bioinformatics or machine learning is highly valued, enabling you to collaborate closely with our AI scientists.
In this role, you will also contribute to developing talent within the facility—supervising junior researchers, supporting their professional growth, and strengthening your own mentoring capabilities. You will bring strong organisational and strategic planning skills, allowing you to manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining clear progress and high-quality outcomes.
As a key contributor to PSBA-ANU's innovation ecosystem, you will help build our intellectual property portfolio through high-impact publications, conference presentations, patents, and translational outputs.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills are essential, enabling you to foster productive relationships with students, colleagues, industry partners, and collaborators across Australia and around the world.
The School
The Research School of Biology is a leading centre of plant science research in Australia. Researchers have a tradition of excellence in plant molecular biology, eco-physiology, photosynthetic biochemistry, plant energy biology, ecology, food security and agricultural biotechnology.
Plant SynBio Australia (PSBA) is a national research network hosted by four leading Australian universities. Our mission is to empower academic researchers and industry partners in the agri-food sector to overcome their toughest R&D challenges through cutting-edge plant synthetic biology across oilseeds, cereals, fruits and vegetables. The ANU node of PSBA is a service facility homed in the research School of Biology.
The College
The ANU College of Science and Medicine encompasses the disciplines of: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Environment and Society, Mathematics, Physics, and Science Communication and is also home to a number of cross-disciplinary and specialist Institutes and Centres. Staff and students within the ANU College of Science and Medicine conduct research and deliver a research-led education program that encompasses the breadth of the sciences, supported by extensive international networks and by world-class facilities.
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For further information please contact, Dr. Allen Wen, Head of Plant SynBio Australia, T:, E:
ANU values diversity and inclusion and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to people of all backgrounds and identities. For more information about staff equity at ANU, click here. For enquiries about the application process, or if you require reasonable adjustment to apply for this role, please contact the hiring manager on the above listed details.
Application information
In order to apply for this role please make sure that you upload the following documents:
A statement addressing the selection criteria.
A current curriculum vitae (CV) which includes the names and contact details of at least three referees (preferably including a current or previous supervisor).
Other documents, if required.
Applications which do not address the selection criteria may not be considered for the position.
Please note: The successful candidate will be required to undergo a background check during the recruitment process. An offer of employment is conditional on satisfactory results.
Closing date: Sunday, 8 March 2026, 11:55 PM (AEDT)
Seniority level
Not Applicable
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Education
Industries
Higher Education