Frequently asked questions
How are projects selected?
Projects are proposed by our research teams and are then extensively reviewed by our Postdoc Committee of scientific leaders to ensure that projects are based on high quality science and represent an engaging career opportunity for new postdocs.
What if my project doesn’t work out?
Research rarely goes exactly how we expect. You will be responsible for leading and managing your own project, but you will have support from your supervisor, your team, and your Postdoc Committee contact should you need to make changes to the scope and goals of your project as things progress.
Why does AstraZeneca have postdocs?
Postdocs allow us to explore novel research questions that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to pursue and they make a significant contribution to our scientific output in terms of presentations and research publications.
A postdoc at AstraZeneca is a great way to learn more about industry while continuing to develop your academic credentials. It enables promising scientists to explore different career pathways and produces scientists that are excellent collaborators between academia and industry.
Who will I work with?
Each postdoc is hosted by the team that proposed their project. You will become part of that team and work closely with them but all our teams collaborate widely within AstraZeneca and beyond so, in the course of your project, you will have many opportunities to meet and collaborate with scientists from a wide range of specialisms.
Can I choose where I work?
Postdocs are largely based in Sweden, the UK or the US and the location where you will be based is linked to your project and where the team you’re working with is based. Possible locations for each project are typically included with the job description when you apply.
How does it differ from academia?
In many ways a postdoc at AstraZeneca is similar to an academic postdoc. It is a limited time project focused on a specific scientific question working within a talented and motivated scientific team.
In addition, a postdoc at AstraZeneca gives you direct access to a large, international network of scientific and non-scientific colleagues, ideal for developing ideas, learning new skills and exploring career directions. You will also have access to advanced research facilities and some of the latest research tools and technologies, supporting you to do work faster, more accurately and on a larger scale.
You’ll also get a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package.
What kinds of projects will I get to work on?
Examples of recent research project titles include:
- Development of next generation structural techniques for therapeutic protein characterisation
- High-resolution 3D imaging unravelling the secrets around cell therapy
- Personalized drug safety in a dish utilizing transcriptomics derived disease understanding
- Small molecule structure elucidation using NMR and machine learning
- Understanding markers of genetic resilience by applying advanced analytics on an unparalleled collection of 500K exomes
- Molecular cues that drive B-cells to produce high affinity antigen specific antibodies
