National Chemical Laboratory Hiring Project Associate with Masters in Natural or Pharmaceutical Sciences

National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, is a premier research laboratory under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India. Established in 1950, NCL conducts advanced research in chemistry, chemical engineering, biotechnology, and related scientific disciplines. The institute works on areas such as drug discovery, catalysis, polymers, materials science, and sustainable chemical processes. NCL also collaborates with academic institutions and industries to translate scientific research into practical applications.

Post : Project Associate-II

Applications are invited online for filling up of position on a purely temporary basis, in the prescribed proforma. The details of the Sponsored Project under which engagement is proposed to be made is as under.

Title of Project : Precision Re-engineering of Intermediary Metabolism of Vanillin for increased Productivity
Name of Sponsoring Agency : ANRF
Project Code : GAP003483
No. of Position : 2

Minimum prescribed educational Qualifications
(i) Master/Integrated Masters in Natural or Agricultural or Pharmaceutical Sciences/MVSc/Animal Sciences OR Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Technology or Medicine from a recognized University AND Two(2) years experience in Research and Development in Industrial and Academic Institutions or Science and Technology Organizations and Scientific activities and services OR (ii) Masters/Integrated Masters in Engineering or Technology from a recognized University or equivalent

Desirable Qualification/ experience, if any
(i) Research experience in microbial metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for production of value-added chemicals, preferably aromatic compounds or vanillin.
(ii) Hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques, including primer and plasmid design, PCR, cloning, vector construction, microbial transformation and validation of engineered strains.
(iii) Experience in CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing, biosynthetic pathway engineering or bioinformatics tools for sequence design and analysis.
(iv) Experience in microbial cultivation, strain screening, medium optimisation and optimisation of culture conditions for improved metabolite production.
(v) Familiarity with HPLC, spectrophotometric assays or other relevant bioanalytical techniques for quantification of substrates, pathway intermediates and products.
(vi) Good written and verbal communication, organisational skills, scientific documentation and data analysis, with the ability to work collaboratively.

Age Limit* : 35

Job requirement
(i) Design, construct and validate microbial strains and expression vectors for vanillin biosynthesis using metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches.
(ii) Apply genetic engineering and, where appropriate, CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing to improve precursor availability, redirect metabolic flux and minimise competing reactions.
(iii) Conduct strain screening and microbial cultivation experiments; optimise medium composition, precursor supplementation and culture conditions to enhance vanillin titre, yield and productivity.
(iv) Quantify microbial growth, substrate utilisation, vanillin and relevant pathway intermediates using HPLC and other suitable analytical techniques.
(v) Identify and address biosynthetic pathway bottlenecks, assess the stability and performance of engineered strains, and support bioprocess development and validation.
(vi) Maintain experimental records, strain inventories and standard operating procedures; analyse results, prepare progress reports and scientific manuscripts, and coordinate activities towards project milestones.

Consolidated emoluments per month
(i) 35,000/- + HRA those candidates who have qualified CSIR-UGC / ICAR / ICMR NET incl. lectureship/ assistant professorship or GATE OR those who have qualified National level examinations conducted by central Government Departments like DBT/ DST or equivalent and/or their Agencies/ Institutions. (ii) 28,000 + HRA for others who do not fall under (i) above

* The upper age limit is relaxable upto 5 years in the case of candidates belonging to SC/ST/PWD/women, and 3 year for OBC candidates.

The engagement will be coterminous with the tenure of sponsored project subject to satisfactory performance or conduct of the appointee, as the case may be. The engagement will be purely on temporary basis and shall not be CSIR/NCL appointment, temporary or otherwise and shall not entitle the appointee to any right/claim whatsoever, implicit or explicit, for his/her consideration against any CSIR-NCL post/fellowship.

How to Apply:
1. Eligible candidates are required to apply ONLINE only through our website.
2. Link to apply : jobs.ncl.res.in
3. Details can be read from section Jobs Vacancies : ncl-india.org
4. Candidate should have a valid email before applying online.
5. Scanned photo/signature in JPG/JPEG format only.
6. Candidate’s Photograph File size must be less than 50 kb.
7. Candidate’s Signature File size must be less than 25 kb.
8. Readable scanned copies of Mark sheet(SSC, HSC, Graduation, Master, PhD,etc)
9. Keep ready pdf file of all testimonials.
10. Read all instructions title 'How To Apply' available at website.

The application should be filled online on or before 21/10/2026. Late applications will not be considered.
The prescribed educational quatifications are a bare minimum and merely possessing of same win not entitle candidates to be called for interview. Where number of applications received in response to this Notice of engagement is large, it may not be convenient or Rossible to interview all the candidates. Based on the recommendation of the Screening Committee, the Project Leader may restrict the number of candidates to be called for interview to reasonable limits after taking into consideration qualifications and experience over and above the minimum qualifications prescribed in the Notice. Therefore, it will be in the interest of the candidates, to mention all the qualifications and experience in the relevant field on date of advertise.

The candidates recommended by the Screening Committee to be called for interview would be notified on the website as well as divisional Notice Board on 23/10/2026 or the candidates may ascertain the information by contacting Anu Raghunathan email id: anu.raghunathan@ncl.res.in

Shortlisted candidates will be required to appear before the Selection Committee for an online interview. For online interview URL link will be provided to shortlisted candidate later via email on or before 23/10/2026.

Interview will be conducted on 26/10/2026 from 10:00 AM online through a suitable medium such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Cisco WebEx etc.

No interview call letter will be issued separately.
No TA/DA will be admissible for appearing for the interview. Selected candidates will
have to join duty immediately on receipt of the offer of engagement.