Apprenticeships at ICR
At The Institute of Cancer Research, we currently have apprenticeship programmes in both our research teams as alternative entry routes into technical talent pipeline and within our professional services team such as Digital Services and Finance.
Our Laboratory Technician Apprenticeship Programme
Our Laboratory Technician apprenticeship scheme is part of a national initiative to strengthen and promote career development for scientific research technicians – made possible by a £1m grant from Wellcome that was awarded to The Institute of Cancer Research in September 2023. The programme aims to address challenges in recruitment, development, and retention of technicians, increase diversity by promoting apprenticeships to underrepresented groups, and improve the recognition of the technician career path in academia. This programme, delivered in partnership with Tiro, has been recognized with the Education and Training Award at the UK Pharma Industry Awards.
Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:
“We’re honoured our new apprenticeship programme, working with Tiro, has been given this award. Technicians make a significant and highly valued contribution to the ICR’s world-leading research to defeat cancer. We are fully committed to ensuring that their work is recognised, and that technicians are supported to achieve their full potential.
“This success has been made possible by the major grant from Wellcome that we secured last year – we were delighted to receive it so we could build a national initiative around technician development. The grant is already helping us to recruit and nurture brilliant people from diverse backgrounds and share what we learn with other research institutes and higher education institutions, so we can continue to build a positive research culture and benefit technicians at the ICR and beyond.”
Dr Aline Tabib-Salazar, Technician Career Pathways Programme Manager at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved in the first year of funding and it’s extremely encouraging that the apprenticeship programme we’ve developed with Tiro has been recognised with this prestigious award. But there’s much more to do – it will be a busy year as we look to build on the success we’ve had so far and crucially, help grow the programme into an established national initiative.”
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Scientific Apprenticeship Conference - Building a Sustainable Technical Pipeline: Apprenticeships in Research
Dissemination of learnings and sharing resources with the sector was a key point in our Wellcome award. To achieve this, we are hosting a scientific apprenticeship conference at Wellcome Collection, London on 15th May 2025.
Professional Services Apprenticeships
We also offer apprenticeships in our professional services teams, tailored to meet the needs of a research organisation. These roles provide valuable experience and training in various areas:
- Digital Services (IT): Our Digital Services Directorate ensures that everyone at ICR has access to the technology they need. Apprenticeships in this team involve working on the IT Helpdesk, dealing with a wide range of customer requests while studying for a Level 3 Information communications technician qualification. They provide comprehensive support, including hands-on technical training and personal development. Apprentices gain exposure to various aspects of digital services, enhancing their understanding of how different functions interconnect. They also receive guidance on problem-solving and career clarity through diverse team rotations. This broad experience helps them build a professional network and develop adaptability in the evolving digital industry. These roles are based in our Helpdesk teams at London Chelsea and Sutton.
- Finance: Our Finance Team, primarily based at Chelsea, employs apprentices in entry-level roles, supporting them to study for apprenticeship qualifications while working. This team is experienced in dealing with research grants and provides essential support to our research community.
Join Us
Details of current apprenticeship vacancies in these and other research-supporting roles are advertised on our website. We are committed to nurturing talent and providing opportunities for professional growth within our organization.
Vacancies at the ICR
Head of Biology and Director, Centre for Target Validation (Group Leader)
Under the leadership of Dr Olivia Rossanese, we are seeking to appoint a Team Leader to join The Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD) as The Head of Biology and Director of the Centre for Target Validation. Key Requirements The successful candidate must have in-depth knowledge and recent experience in an area of cancer biology relevant to oncology drug discovery. Leadership experience of drug discovery within, or in collaboration with, the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry as evidenced by publication and/or successful commercial projects. Along with completing the online application form, you will be asked to attach the following documents and failure to do so will mean your application cannot be considered on this occasion: · Full CV · Lists of major publications, achievements, research grants, distinctions. · A PDF of a maximum of five key publications, or other research outputs (e.g. patents) that best demonstrate previous productivity · You must also complete the personal statement section of the application form in the format of a covering letter including the names and contact details of three academic referees Department/Directorate Information: The Division of Cancer Therapeutic's mission is to develop personalised medicines by translating information from the cancer genome and cancer biology into drugs for patient benefit. We implement innovative drug discovery technologies, discover novel mechanism-based drugs, and develop these as rapidly as possible from the laboratory through to hypothesis-testing early clinical trials We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr Olivia Rossanese, Email [email protected]
Postdoctoral Training Fellow
Under the leadership of Claudio Alfieri, we are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Training Fellow to join the Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation Group at the Chester Beatty Laboratories, Fulham Road in London. This project aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms of cell cycle regulation by macromolecular complexes involved in cell proliferation decisions, by combining genome engineering, proteomics and in situ structural biology. For general information on Post Doc's at The ICR can be found here. Key Requirements The successful candidate must have a PhD in cellular biochemistry and experience in Cryo-EM and CLEM is desirable. The ICR has a workforce agreement stating that Postdoctoral Training Fellows can only be employed for up to 7 years as PDTF at the ICR, providing total postdoctoral experience (including previous employment at this level elsewhere) does not exceed 10 years Department/Directorate Information: The candidate will work in the Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Cycle Regulation Group within the ICR Division of Structural Biology headed by Prof. Laurence Pearl and Prof. Sebastian Guettler. The division has state-of-the-art facilities for protein expression and biophysics/x-ray crystallography, in particular the Electron Microscopy Facility is equipped with a Glacios 200kV with Falcon 4i detector with Selectris energy filter and the ICR has access to Krios microscopes via eBIC and the LonCEM consortium. We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Claudio Alfieri via Email on [email protected]
Postdoctoral Training Fellow – X-Ray Crystallography
A postdoctoral position is available in Dr Rob van Montfort’s Hit Discovery and Structural Design Team within the CCDD. The Post-doc will be involved in the structure determination of protein-ligand complexes, primarily by X-ray crystallography but also potentially by cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM), as part of one of the CCDD’s drug discovery programmes. The postholder will be responsible for protein production and purification, protein crystallisation, structure determination by X-ray crystallography and subsequent structural analysis. The successful candidate will be an integral member of a multidisciplinary project team within the CCDD at the ICR Sutton site, and will interact closely with biologists, computational chemists, medicinal chemists, assay scientists and structural biologists.They will have access to state-of-the-art facilities for protein production and purification, as well as biophysical characterisation and crystallisation at the Sutton site. We also benefit from excellent access to Diamond Light Source synchrotron at the Harwell Science and Innovation campus, Didcot, UK, for X-ray data collection. Additionally, the successful candidate will also be part of the Division of Structural Biology, located in Chelsea, in which the structural biologists in Dr van Montfort’s team are also embedded, and will have access to its state-of-the art cryoEM facilities. These include an in-house Glacios and 30% direct access to a Titan KRIOS located at the Francis Crick Institute. Both microscopes are equipped with Falcon III detectors and volta phase plates (VPP). In addition, we have excellent access to the electron bioimaging Centre (eBIC) at the Harwell Science and Innovation campus, Didcot, UK. About you The successful candidate must have must have a PhD (or equivalent) in a biological or physical science, with demonstrable experience in X-ray crystallography and protein biochemistry. Experience in cryo-EM specimen preparation and data processing would be an advantage, though not strictly mandatory. Experience in molecular biology, protein expression and purification, as well as biophysical characterisation of protein samples would also be highly desirable. The ICR has a workforce agreement stating that Postdoctoral Training Fellows can only be employed for up to 7 years as PDTF (including previous employment at this level elsewhere). For general information on Postdocs at The ICR, more information can be found here. Department/Directorate Information The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, is one of the world’s most influential cancer research institutes, with an outstanding record of achievements dating back more than 100 years. We provided the first convincing evidence that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer, laying the foundation for the now universally accepted idea that cancer is a genetic disease. Today, the ICR leads the world at isolating cancer-related genes and discovering new targeted drugs for personalised cancer treatment. Together with our hospital partner The Royal Marsden, we are rated in the top four centres for cancer research and treatment worldwide. As well as being a world-class institute, we are a college of the University of London. We came top in the league table of university research quality compiled from the Research Excellence Framework in 2014 and second in 2021 (REF 2014 and 2021). The ICR is committed to attracting, developing and retaining the best minds in the world to join us in our mission – to make the discoveries that defeat cancer. Department/Directorate Information: The Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD), within the Division of Cancer Therapeutics, is a multidisciplinary 'bench to bedside' centre, comprising around 160 staff dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The CCDD’s exciting goal is to discover high quality small molecule drug candidates and to progress these to clinical trial. All the scientific disciplines are in place to make this possible, including medicinal chemistry, biology, structural biology, assay scientists, drug metabolism and clinical specialists. This is an exciting and fast-moving research setup and offers the opportunity to work within a multi-disciplinary environment using state-of-the-art techniques and equipment. What we offer A dynamic and supportive research environment Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development opportunities Collaboration with leading researchers in the field Competitive salary and pension We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr van Montfort [email protected] or Dr Le Bihan [email protected]. Please DO NOT send your application to Dr Van Montfort or Dr Le Bihan, but apply via the e-recruitment system on our websitewww.icr.ac.uk/careers.
Postdoctoral Training Fellow: In Situ Structural Biology
Under the leadership of Professor Sebastian Guettler, we seek a Postdoctoral Training Fellow to join the Structural Biology of Cell Signalling Group at ICR's Chester Beatty Laboratories, Fulham Road in London. The new Team Member will investigate the structure of macromolecular assemblies in situ, using cryogenic fluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), with a particular emphasis on the mechanisms of the ADP-ribosyltransferase tankyrase. The Team Member will be supported by ICR's Light and Electron Microscopy Facilities and benefit from recent investments into in situ structural biology at the ICR. General information on Postdocs at the ICR can be found here. Key requirements The successful candidate must have a PhD in a biological science or any other area relevant to the laboratory's research. Experience in cryo-EM is essential, and experience in in situ structural biology approaches is desirable. The ICR has a workforce agreement stating that Postdoctoral Training Fellows can only be employed for up to 6 years as a PTDF at the ICR (this includes experience gained at PDTF level prior to joining the ICR) Department/Directorate Information The candidate will work in the Structural Biology of Cell Signalling Group within the ICR Division of Structural Biology headed by Professor Laurence Pearl and Professor Sebastian Guettler. The Division features state-of-the-art structural biology infrastructure and a vibrant research community. Its Electron Microscopy Facility is equipped with a 200-keV Thermo Fisher Scientific Glacios TEM with a Falcon 4i detector. The ICR further has access to Krios microscopes via the Electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC) at the Diamond Light Source and the London Consortium for Cryo-EM (LonCEM). Recent investments include equipment for in situ structural biology, particularly a Leica EM GP2 plunge freezer, an EM ICE high-pressure freezer, an Ultracut ultramicrotome with an FC7 cryo-chamber, a STELLARIS 5 cryo-confocal microscope, and a Thermo Fisher Scientific Selectris energy filter for ICRs Glacios TEM. FIB-SEM access is available through eBIC. An initiative to establish FIB-SEM at the ICR is underway. We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role. For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Sebastian Guettler via email on [email protected].