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
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 7 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]
Higher Scientific Officer - Drug Discovery Biology, Centre for Protein Degradation
We are seeking to recruit a Higher Scientific Officer within the Induced Proximity Therapeutics (IPT) Team in the ICR Centre for Protein Degradation to support our molecular glue and PROTAC drug discovery projects and expand induced proximity technology. The IPT team focuses on three main areas of research: Cancer target validation Screening, profiling and molecular mechanism of action of molecular glue and PROTAC degraders Novel E3 ligase biology and ligand discovery The successful candidate will work in a multidisciplinary team and play a key role in target validation, developing in vitro and cell-based assays, and pharmacological characterisation of novel molecular glue degraders and PROTACs, but may also contribute to other activities. About you The successful candidate: Will be a strong team player who is technically minded and passionate about science and cancer drug discovery Will hold a first degree, and preferably a PhD, in biological science or biochemistry Will have experience in cancer biology/target validation, genetic manipulation techniques, in vitro and cell-based assay development and pharmacological compound profiling Experience in targeted protein degradation will be a significant advantage. Department/Directorate Information This position will be based in the ICR's Centre for Protein Degradation, a part of the Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery (CCDD) specialising in developing novel drug modalities that re-wire tumour cells' signalling by targeted degradation of key oncogenic drivers. Our experienced biologists work closely with medicinal chemists, biophysicists, computational scientists, oncology specialists and physicians on discovering new medicines - molecular glue degraders and PROTACs - using innovative screening platforms and characterising their mechanisms of action, as well as expanding the repertoire of novel degradable drug targets and E3 ligases (enzymes that mediate protein degradation). Our research provides a nucleus for the academics and pharmaceutical industry to explore therapeutic potential of targeted protein degradation from laboratory hypothesis-testing to early clinical trials, for the benefit of cancer patients. What we offer A dynamic and supportive research environment in one of the successful academic cancer drug discovery centres in the UK Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development Collaboration with leading drug discovery and oncology scientist Competitive salary and pension To learn more about this role, please download the attached job pack. For informal inquiries, please contact Dr Agnieszka Konopacka, Group Leader, Induced Proximity Therapeutics, Centre for Protein Degradation via email: [email protected].
Learning and Organisational Development Programme Coordinator
About the Role We are seeking a Learning and Development Programme Coordinator to join our department and contribute to all aspects of the scheduling, delivery and evaluation of the ICR’s training offer for staff and students and supporting the implementation of our new learning management system. The successful candidate will play a key role in liaising with internal and external trainers to coordinate our annual programme of training and events, managing training budgets, producing training reports and evaluations and project managing the move to a new learning management system. Key Responsibilities Project managing the implementation of a new learning management system (LMS) Training programme management and scheduling Liaising with internal and external training providers Evaluating the annual training programme Managing the resource bank of on demand training About You We are looking for a self-motivated individual who is highly organised and can work to tight deadlines. The ideal candidate will have a Degree level qualification in Business, Communication, HR or equivalent experience. Proven experience in managing the delivery of a structured programme of events. Significant experience of implementing LearnUpon or other Learning Management System. Excellent organizational and time-management skills. Good commercial awareness and experience of dealing directly with suppliers. Strong communication and interpersonal abilities. Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Learn Upon/other LMS. What We Offer A supportive and collaborative working environment. Opportunities for professional development and career progression. Competitive salary and pension Department/Directorate Information The Learning and Organisation Team are part of the HR Directorate and provide a wide range of training and career development support for all staff and students covering: research skills, management and leadership development and personal development. We also lead on supporting equality and diversity including external awards such as Athena SWAN and HR Excellence in Research. 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 [email protected].
Postdoctoral Training Fellow - Medicinal Chemistry
Under the guidance of Dr Gurdip Bhalay, we are looking for a talented synthetic chemist with an interest in medicinal chemistry to join a project team focussing on the design and application of small molecules in immuno-oncology, which seeks to harness the body’s own immune system to destroy cancer cells. Our aim is to use multi-parameter optimisation in conjunction with structure-based drug design to generate high quality pre-clinical candidate drugs. About you The successful candidate will work as part of a multidisciplinary project team to use in house data and structural information to design new molecules then develop and execute synthetic routes to make these compounds in the lab. The candidate will develop their existing skills in organic chemistry as well as their knowledge and experience of applied medicinal chemistry. Candidates who are nearing completion of their PhD may apply, but confirmation on awarded PhD is required within 6 months of employment. 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 7 years. For general information on Postdocs at The ICR, more information can be found here. Department/Directorate Information The Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, within the Division of Cancer Therapeutics, is a multidisciplinary 'bench to bedside' centre, comprising around 200 staff dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The Cancer Therapeutics Unit’s exciting goal is to discover high quality drug candidates for validated biological targets and to progress these candidates to clinical trial. All the scientific disciplines are in place to make this possible. Our world-class biologists, chemists and drug metabolism specialists work together focusing on new molecular targets emerging from human genome and ground breaking cell biology research. This is an exciting and fast moving area of cancer research, and offers the opportunity to work within a multi-disciplinary environment using state-of-the-art techniques and equipment. Department/Directorate Information: Medicinal Chemistry Team 1 is one of several medicinal chemistry teams based on our Sutton site, in state-of-the-art laboratories, in the Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery. 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. Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close the advert before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. Therefore we advise that you to submit your application, as early as possible to avoid disappointment.