Research Opportunity: Senior Project Associate at NII for Indo-European Vaccine Project

The National Institute of Immunology (NII) is inviting applications for the temporary position of Senior Project Associate under a time-bound, sponsored research project.

Project and Compensation Details

Post: Senior Project Associate (One position only)
Project Name: “INCENTIVE: Indo-European consortium for next generation influenza vaccine innovation”
Sponsoring Agency: DBT (Department of Biotechnology)
Project Tenure: The position is tenable until December 28, 2025.
Principal Investigator & Contact: Dr. Prafullakumar Tailor, Staff Scientist-VII. (Email: incentive@nii.ac.in)
Emoluments: ₹42,000/- per month plus 27% HRA. The total monthly emolument, including HRA, is approximately ₹53,340/- (as per DST OM dated June 26, 2023).

Essential Educational Qualifications

The eligibility criteria requires meeting one of the two following sets of qualifications:

Option A (Master’s Degree + Experience):

Master’s Degree in Natural or Agricultural Sciences/MVSc, OR a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Technology or Medicine.
PLUS Four years of experience in Research and Development in Industrial and Academic Institutions or Scientific activities and services.

Option B (Doctoral Degree):

Doctoral Degree in Science/Engineering/Technology/Pharma/MD/MS from a recognized University or equivalent.

Desirable Qualifications & Job Role

The Institute is looking for candidates with specific expertise to fulfill the project’s objectives:

Desirable Expertise

The ideal candidate should have:

Experience in the virology field and working in a BSL3 virology lab.
Experience in influenza biology and performing virology assays (HAI, MN, ELLA, etc.).
Alternatively, candidates with expertise in genomics (NGS, RNA seq, ATAC-seq, single-cell RNA seq, etc.) who can design analysis pipelines and work collaboratively with the wet lab team are also encouraged to apply.
Candidates who have submitted or are writing their Ph.D. thesis and awaiting their viva are also encouraged to apply.

Job Description

The Senior Project Associate will be responsible for:

Carrying out experiments for the project’s work element, including immunogenicity and efficacy studies of flu vaccine candidates in the NHP-ABSL3 facility.
Performing various viral assays.
If selected as a bioinformatics expert, the role will involve analyzing genomics and proteomics data generated during the project.

Application and General Instructions

Application Deadline: October 10, 2025
How to Apply: Interested candidates must apply STRICTLY in the prescribed format through E-mail directly to the Principal Investigator, Dr. Prafullakumar Tailor (incentive@nii.ac.in).
Submission Details: The email must clearly indicate the name of the project and include the candidate’s complete Curriculum Vitae (CV). The CV should detail experimental expertise and list all publications.
Interview Process: Only shortlisted candidates will be called for the interview, which may be held in offline or online mode.
Fee Payment: Shortlisted candidates must submit a Demand Draft of ₹100/- (payable to the Director, NII) or pay via UPI/Paytm/Phone Pe etc., at the time of the interview. SC/ST/PH/Women candidates are exempted from this fee upon submission of documentary proof.

The initial contract for the selected candidate is for one year or the duration of the project, whichever is shorter. No hostel or housing facility will be provided.