Overview
Chair in Drug Discovery (SS13521) – Bath, BA2 7AY
About the role
The Departments of Life Sciences and Chemistry are seeking an exceptional research leader to join us as Chair in Drug Discovery, a strategic joint appointment across the two departments that will help shape the future of therapeutic innovation at Bath and play a central role in the new Centre for Drug Discovery (CDD).
CDD is a major cross-faculty initiative bringing together chemists, biologists, data scientists and engineers to accelerate drug discovery through innovation in synthesis, screening, computation and translation. The Centre will focus on emerging modalities and enabling technologies from cyclic small molecules, peptides, antibodies and macrocycles exploring new 3D chemical space to AI-guided synthesis, flow automation and direct-to-biology screening. By integrating Bath’s strengths in synthetic chemistry, chemical and structural biology and advanced delivery science, the CDD will offer a distinctive environment for developing next-generation molecular tools and therapeutic leads.
About you
- Demonstrate inclusive leadership and a commitment to fostering a diverse research environment
- Have a strong track record of internationally recognised research in drug discovery
- Are passionate about collaboration across disciplines and sectors
- Can mentor and support researchers at all career stages including Bath Prize Fellows
- Engage with industry and innovation networks to translate discoveries into real-world impact.
- Can teach aspects of drug discovery in both lectures and laboratory classes and contribute to our PGT course on Drug Discovery (joint between the departments of Chemistry and Life Sciences), maintaining the University’s high standards in teaching and learning, and its inclusive and supportive learning environment.
While we encourage applications from a range of backgrounds, we particularly welcome candidates whose research aligns with one or more of the following areas:
• Medicinal chemistry for emerging modalities such as peptides, molecular glues, PROTACs, ADCs or covalent inhibitors
• Innovative screening approaches, e.g. DNA-encoded libraries, affinity-selection mass spectrometry, chemoproteomics or AI/ML-driven virtual screening.
• Computational drug discovery including molecular design, macrocycle conformations, docking, or predictive models for permeability and pharmacokinetics.
About Drug Discovery at Bath
Drug discovery at Bath is driven by close integration between the Departments of Life Sciences and Chemistry, uniting expertise in peptide design, synthetic chemistry, chemoproteomics and computational modelling. Core strengths include chemical and structural biology, pharmacology and antibiotic discovery, with projects spanning early-stage molecular design through to pre-clinical mechanism-of-action studies.
Life Sciences provides cutting-edge laboratories for molecular and cellular biology, microbiology and pharmaceutical sciences, including tissue-culture suites, automated liquid handling and a zebrafish facility for in vivo pharmacology. Chemistry complements this with world-class infrastructure for automated and flow synthesis, compound characterisation (MS, NMR, DReaM Facility) and access to Bath’s High-Performance Computing and AI/ML platforms for virtual screening and molecular design.
Both departments have a strong track record in innovation with a number of spin out companies. The new appointment will join a vibrant cross-faculty community engaging with industry, the regional GW4 innovation network and opportunity to benefit from the South-West Life Science network.
Together, these resources offer an exceptional environment for innovative researchers to develop and test new approaches to molecular discovery.
Informal enquiries & application
For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Amanda Mackenzie, Head of Life Sciences (prsam@bath.ac.uk) or Professor Matthew Jones, Head of Chemistry (mj205@bath.ac.uk). Please ensure applications are submitted via the University’s online system. Alongside the online form, upload a full CV.
This is a full time role (36.5 hours per week). Interviews for this position will take place on 22 and 23 June 2026 (a 2 day process).
We are committed to providing a supportive and inclusive working environment for all staff, including mentorship and flexible working arrangements. The Departments of Life Science, Chemistry and the University currently hold Athena SWAN Silver awards, and we are working to further improve equality, diversity and inclusion for the benefit of all staff. If you would like to discuss any issues or other aspects of the working environment with a member of staff who is not involved in the recruitment process, please contact Prof Stephen Husbands, Director of Research in the Department of Life Sciences (prssmah@bath.ac.uk).
What we can offer you
We're continually expanding our benefits package to better support you and enhance your experience with us and the below is just an example of some of the many great benefits we offer:
- Free counselling services through Health Assured
- Cycle to work scheme
- Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
- Staff discount at Team Bath gym
- Staff discounts on postgraduate tuition fees
- Staff discount on language courses
- Generous employer contributory pension schemes
- Generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance
- A wide range of personal and professional development opportunities including Apprenticeships, LinkedIn Learning and more
- Free entry to the Holburne Museum in Bath
- Local discounts and more
- A family-friendly workplace
- An excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
- Relocation allowance
- Visa reimbursement and Interest-Free Loan to help with the cost of some immigration expenses
Find out more about our benefits and watch the video to hear from our staff about what makes the University of Bath a great place to work as well as following us X and LinkedIn.
Closing Date: 26 May 2026
Department: Education & Research
Salary: £75,182 to £138,905
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
