Job ID: 95804

Research Associate – UK Dementia Research Institute

Position: Post-doctoral Position

Deadline: 3 October 2022

Employment Start Date: 1 November 2022

Contract Length: Full time, fixed term

City: London

Country: United Kingdom

Institution: Imperial College London

Department: Brain Sciences

Description:

The Barnes Lab invites applications from dynamic, creative, and highly motivated scientists for Research Associate positions that will take a leading role on one of the following two projects:

Project 1: Explore synapse vulnerability and resilience in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathophysiology using 2-Photon synaptic imaging in mouse models.

Project 2: Accelerating translational research in the area of non-invasive brain stimulation as an intervention against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis and cognitive decline.

These roles are part of the UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London, located in the Department of Brain Sciences.  Postdocs in the UK DRI at Imperial enjoy excellent career development opportunities with:

  • Access to a range of cutting-edge technologies, i.e., 1- and 2-Photon in vivo microscopy, electrophysiology, automated behavioural testing, single cell/nuclei transcriptomics, non-invasive brain stimulation, Imaging Mass Cytometry and computational modelling.
  • An inclusive, collegial, team-oriented working environment.
  • Strong national links through the UK DRI with attendance at its annual scientific meeting ‘Connectome’.
  • Support from the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre (PFDC) and Imperial and UK DRI ECR Communities
  • The opportunity to mentor, supervise and teach students

Duties and responsibilities

As a Research Associate in the UK DRI, you will:

  • Build on your existing skills and experience to address major components of this project independently.
  • Present research findings as written reports, at conferences, within the College and as published manuscripts.
  • Take initiative in the planning of research, with clear and timely communications to the Group Leader and relevant researchers.
  • Contribute to the smooth running of the lab and facilities, acting collegiately with other scientists, clinicians, technicians and students
  • Provide guidance to staff and assist in the supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate research students, as required
  • Maintain highly organised and accurate records of experimental work
  • Undertake appropriate scientific and professional training.

Essential requirements

    • Research Associate: Hold a PhD (or equivalent) in Neuroscience (or related discipline), with practical experience of 2-Photon in vivo imaging of mouse models and/or associated synaptic plasticity and neuronal micro-circuit experience.
    • Research Assistant: Near completion of a PhD (or equivalent) in Neuroscience (or related discipline), with practical experience of 2-Photon in vivo imaging of mouse models and/or associated synaptic plasticity and neuronal micro-circuit experience.
    • Experience of one or more software packages is essential: MATLAB, ImageJ, SigmaPlot, Prism, R as is experience in statistical analysis.
    • Practical experience within a research environment and publications in relevant peer-reviewed journals

Further information

This is a Full Time and Fixed Term (Part Time options will be considered) post for 1 year initially based at the Hammersmith and White City Campuses.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £38,194 – £41,388 per annum.

Please contact Dr Samuel Barnes – Samuel.Barnes@imperial.ac.uk for discussion about the project and role.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level.http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/