Job description

Job summary

The Franks-Wisden lab invites applications from dynamic, creative, and highly motivated scientists for a Research Associate position that will take a leading role in the following project:

Enhancing sleep as a treatment for people living with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

This project will investigate possibilities for enhancing sleep by stimulating novel circuitry using bioelectronic engineering and genetic approaches.

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

• Access to a range of cutting-edge technologies, i.e., optogenetics, viral transduction, electronic circuit design, neurotechnology, animal behaviour
• 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

You will be a motivated and organised researcher, excited by the science we do.

Hold  a PhD (or equivalent) in neuroscience or in neurotechnology or electronic engineering,  or a related area

Practical experience of e.g., electronics and/or electronic circuit design, or e.g., optogenetics, and an interest in pursuing animal behavioural experiments.

Alternatively, you will be a researcher with experience in mouse behaviour, neural circuit manipulation, but also wanting to take part in neurotechnology development.

You will also demonstrate the following:

• Ability to conduct a structured review of relevant literature
• Ability to develop and apply new concepts
• Creative approach to problem-solving
• Excellent verbal communication skills and the ability to deal with a wide range of people
• Excellent written communication skills and the ability to write clearly and succinctly for publication

Further information

This position is offered full time fixed term until 31 October 2025. You will be based at South Kensington Campus.

Please contact w.wisden@imperial.ac.ukand n.franks@imperial.ac.uk for discussion about the project and role.

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.

Candidates will need to complete an online application; CVs alone will not be accepted.

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/ 

Documents

• Job Description - Research Associate.pdf