Research Fellow

Position Details

School of Dentistry, College of Medicine and Health

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to November 2027

Closing date: 26th July 2026

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

Background

Dental caries remains one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. Although preventative strategies have improved oral health, there remains a critical need for robust, biologically relevant models of early enamel demineralisation that can be used to understand disease progression and evaluate new approaches towards successful remineralisation strategies.

The successful candidate will work within University of Birmingham, School of Dentistry as part of a collaborative team investigating incipient enamel caries and the development of suitable demineralisation protocols including artificial lesion production and high-resolution imaging. This post will focus specifically on developing reliable laboratory models for studying the processes of enamel demineralisation and remineralisation.

This is an excellent opportunity for a researcher with experience in mineralised tissues, biomaterials, macro- or micro-fluidics, analytical microscopy, spectroscopy, or related areas to contribute to a high-impact project with clear relevance to minimally invasive dentistry.

Role Summary

The wider programme funded by EPSRC (“Elucidating the pathways for human tooth enamel mineralisation by 4D microscopy and microfluidics”; EP/W009412/1) seeks to understand the structural and chemical pathways involved in enamel mineral loss and repair, with the long-term aim of supporting new approaches to early caries management. Within this broader context, this 12-month post will primarily focus on the use of macro- and micro-fluidics to study enamel mineral loss and repair under controlled, time-resolved conditions.

The successful candidate will establish experimental systems that enable controlled exposure of enamel specimens to acidic and remineralising environments. The aim is to generate robust time-resolved data on the kinetics and spatial distribution of enamel demineralisation and remineralisation, and to support future reaction-diffusion modelling and treatment optimisation.

Tooth preparation, white spot lesion models and imaging will also be main important supporting elements, including quantitative analysis and integration with the wider team working on sample preparation, microscopy, spectroscopy, tomography and modelling.

The post-holder will:

• Prepare, section, embed, polish and handle dental hard tissue samples as required.
• Design and optimise macro- and micro-fluidic cells or chambers for enamel demineralisation and remineralisation experiments.
• Establish reproducible flow, pH, and ion-exchange regimes to simulate acid challenge, recovery and remineralising treatment conditions.
• Use prepared human enamel specimens and validated artificial or natural lesion models to quantify mineral loss and repair under controlled fluidic conditions.
• Use established fluidic models to interface with appropriate imaging and analytical methods such as optical microscopy, SEM, real-time AFM, Raman microscopy, nano-FTIR.
• Use the validated models to study the dynamics of enamel demineralisation and remineralisation.
• Work closely with colleagues within dentistry, materials science, imaging and modelling to ensure that experimental outputs are robust, reproducible and suitable for future mechanistic and translational studies.

Main Duties

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods 
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews *
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters *
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research *
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines*
• Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff
• Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures
• Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity duties document.

* These indicative responsibilities may also be included in a research role at grade 6.

Person Specification

We welcome applications from candidates with a PhD, or near-completion PhD, in a relevant discipline such as biomaterials, oral biology, mineralised tissue research, dental materials science, chemistry, biomedical engineering, microscopy/imaging, or a closely related field. Previous experience in fluidic experimental systems, histology, hard tissue specimen preparation, microscopy, image analysis, micro-CT or synchrotron imaging would be advantageous.

• A PhD relevant to the research area (or near completion), or equivalent PhD level qualifications. 
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively 
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics and duties under the Equality Act 2010. Including fostering good relations and advancing the universities Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
• Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity knowledge, skills and experience document.

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquiries to Prof Will Palin w.m.palin@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.