Discover Your Future as a #SangerPostdoc
#SangerPostdocs are pushing the boundaries of genomics, contributing to pioneering research that shapes the future of science and health.
This page brings together everything you need to explore a postdoc positions at the Wellcome Sanger Institute from current vacancies and recruitment routes to a detailed brochure that showcases Postdoc life at Sanger. As part of a collaborative and ambitious community, our Postdocs benefit from world-class training, vibrant social connections, and access to exceptional facilities all designed to help them thrive, both professionally and personally.
For an in-depth look at #SangerPostdoc life, read our Postdoc Recruitment Brochure here or click to download:
1. Core Postdoc Fellowships
Our Faculty Teams, embedded across our 6 Science Programmes, recruit core Postdoc Fellows throughout the year.
Typically these roles are open to PhD-qualified individuals (or those who will obtain their PhD within 6 months of starting the Fellowship) who hold the skills and expertise relevant to the specific role advertised. Other essential and desirable criteria will apply.
Core Postdoc Fellows gain access Sanger’s employee benefits and the training and development provided via Sanger’s Postdoc Programme.
Approximately 68% of our Postdocs are funded through these core opportunities; 48% through Sanger’s core funding from Wellcome and 20% through Open Targets project grants.
Our current core Postdoc opportunities can be found on Workday.
2. Strategic Postdoc Fellowships
Sanger’s strategic fellowships for Early Career Researchers are centrally funded competitive Fellowships that are strategically aligned with our vision and aim to fulfil a specific need or aim in Genomics.
Any individual eligible for our strategic fellowships is also welcome, and strongly encouraged, to apply to core Postdoc Fellow roles.
Approximately 13% of our Postdocs are funded through our strategic Fellowships.
Remit-based Strategic Fellowships
In order to achieve our vision and have a distinctive and transformative scientific impact within the wider life science ecosystem, our defining characteristics include:
- Being bold – Our scientific strategy is independent, focused, programmatic and dynamic
- Operating at scale – Delivering cutting-edge data generation and analysis at an unmatched scale
- Being creative – Developing our cultural blend of creativity, innovation and operational excellence
- Carrying out cross-cutting research – Embracing scientific areas and challenges that encompass basic and translational science
Our remit-based Fellowships emerge when we identify barriers to delivering our mission, or rapid evolution of the scientific landscape, and are often delivered in collaboration with strategically aligned partner organisations and/or third party funders.
Access-based Strategic Fellowships
We strive to have a culture at Sanger where people can flourish, maximising everyone’s input and achieving the extraordinary potential of our vision and mission.
Our access-based Strategic Fellowships are supportive packages designed to reduce the barriers to participation in leading-edge research for those from groups that are unrepresented in academia. We recognise the diversity of skills, experiences, perspectives and roles that make up the infrastructure of the Sanger Institute in order to deliver our strategy. We place people and inclusion at the heart of our Institute, meaning everyone can contribute and participation, feel valued and respected. Only then can we maximise the potential of our workforce, to be innovative, creative and world-leading in our science.
Our Access-based Strategic Fellowship calls are currently paused for review. Stay tuned for information.
!! Call opening soon – ~Jul 2026 !!
The EMBL-EBI–Sanger Postdoctoral (ESPOD) Programme builds on the collaborative relationship between EMBL-EBI and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, offering projects that combine experimental (wet-lab) and computational (dry-lab) approaches. Co-located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, the proximity of our organisations fosters great opportunities for close collaboration.
ESPOD Fellows gain access to EMBL-EBI’s employee benefits and the training and development provided via both Sanger’s Postdoc Programme and EMBL-EBI’s Postdoc Programme.
EMBL-EBI and Sanger aim to recruit a maximum of 2 new ESPOD Fellows annually through an open and competitive application process – more information will follow when calls are imminent. Call timings may be subject to change – however, indicative timings are provided to help researchers plan the next career steps.
Visit the ESPOD webpage (external link – EMBL-EBI) for more information on the Fellowships.
In early 2026, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, in partnership with Google DeepMind (GDM), launched a call for a ‘Google DeepMind Fellowship in Genomics and AI’ representing a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of artificial intelligence and large-scale genomics.
With generous third party funding from GDM, marking their first specific contribution to genomics research via their Academic Fellowship Programme, the GDM Fellow in Genomics and AI will:
- Apply their significant skills and expertise in AI/ML/Computer Science, in collaboration with an AI/ML partner from a UK University, to deliver original research that tackles a ‘Grand Challenge’ in Genomics & AI
- Develop and deliver ambitious and original outreach activities that build capacity in Genomics and AI, translating their ideas into tangible programmes, partnerships, or training opportunities, particularly in collaboration with communities and scientists in LMICs
- Act as an ambassador and point of contact for emerging talent in Genomics and AI
- Have Opportunities to receive mentoring from senior GDM researchers
The GDM Fellow in Genomics & AI also gains access Sanger’s employee benefits and the training and development provided via Sanger’s Postdoc Programme.
This Fellowship Scheme is now closed to applications and the GDM Fellow in Genomics & AI is expected to be announced in Winter 2026/2027. No further calls are planned for the foreseeable future.
Visit the Google DeepMind Fellowship in Genomics & AI webpage for more information on the Fellowship.
We are committed to enabling and opening routes back into science for those who have had a break from scientific research for any reason, as we recognise that even a short period away from research can have an impact on an individual’s academic career.
Janet Thornton Postdoc Fellows gain access to Sanger’s employee benefits and the training and development provided via Sanger’s Postdoc Programme.
The Janet Thornton Postdoc Fellowship is open to researchers who:
- Have taken a minimum of 12 months break from scientific research, for any reason (e.g. caring for dependants, ill health or if your career has been negatively impacted by world events)
- Already have at least one years’ postdoctoral experience
- Are not currently working in a scientific research role
Visit our Janet Thornton Fellowship Webpage for more information on the Fellowships.
Shaped in close collaboration with internal and external experts, including senior Black academics and Black-led community groups, the Sanger Excellence Fellowship was created to enable Black early career researchers to develop their research portfolio and thrive in the field of UK genomics science. The Fellowship attracts research excellence and provides training, mentorship and tailored support to help drive careers forward and strengthen a more diverse future talent pipeline.
Sanger Excellence Postdoc Fellows gain access to Sanger’s employee benefits and the training and development provided via Sanger’s Postdoc Programme.
The Sanger Excellence Postdoc Fellowship is open to researchers who:
- Hold an Undergraduate Degree AND PhD awarded by institutions within the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (the common travel area)
- Self-identify as being from a Black heritage background, including a Mixed heritage background. For example, Black African; Black Caribbean; Black Other; Mixed background (to include Black African, Black Caribbean or other Black backgrounds).
Visit our Sanger Excellence Fellowship Webpage for more information on the Fellowships.
3. Third Party Funded Personal Postdoc Fellowships
We welcome Postdocs who have secured personal Postdoc Fellowships, either before joining Sanger, or after they have already joined Sanger on a core-funded Postdoc Fellowship.
Approximately 20% of our Postdocs are funded through such Fellowships; recent examples include Postdocs on:
- EMBO Postdoc Fellowships
- Marie Curie Postdoc Fellowships
- Walter Benjamin Fellowships
If you are (thinking about) applying for a third party funded personal Postdoc Fellowship to fund your Postdoc work at Sanger, it is essential you secure a Sanger Faculty member as a host supervisor before submitting the application. This is to ensure the faculty member has capacity to provide supervisory support and any in-kind support, such as lab and office space, or budget for research costs and access to Sanger’s sequencing pipelines.
We do not facilitate Faculty “matches” for external individuals applying for third party personal postdoc fellowships; it is expected the individual will contact relevant faculty members directly.
4. Other mechanisms to become a Sanger Postdoc
Though rare, prospective Postdocs may also directly approach a Faculty member (or be appraoched by a Faculty member) with speculative project proposals that combines each stakeholders’ unique knowledge and expertise. Sanger’s flexible core funding may allow the recruitment of such Postdocs without an open call.
HOWEVER:
- Project proposals must still fulfil Sanger’s remit and vision
- The individual must still be of postdoc standing (PhD-qualified individual seeking a period of further training)
- Candidates must still undergo a formal interview to establish alignment with Sanger’s mission, values and behaviours
!! It is important to note that it can be difficult to fulfil certain visa requirements of candidates via this route and Sanger’s preference is always an open call or competitively obtained third party-funded postdoc fellowship !!
Sanger’s Recruitment Processes
Questions
- For questions related to Workday and/or a specifically advertised Postdoc role: ta-team [@] sanger [.] ac [.] uk
- For questions related to Sanger’s strategic fellowships, which are managed by the Academic Programmes Team, email: academicprogrammes [@] sanger [.] ac [.] uk
