Group Leader Research Fellowship Sponsorship Scheme at UCL

The Research Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology (NPP) has outstanding research strength in areas that span receptor pharmacology, biophysics, circuits and systems neuroscience, cardiovascular neurophysiology and neural computation. Researchers have access to state of the art facilities (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/science-technology-platforms/) and the department has close links with partners including the Francis Crick Institute, the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, and the UK Dementia Research Institute. NPP also delivers world-class teaching. UCL is ranked 9th in the 2024 QS World University Rankings, 2nd in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021) and our Neuroscience degree is ranked first in Europe (U.S. News and Report 2023).

We are looking to sponsor early career researchers (ECRs) for external fellowships that will enable them to establish an independent research group in the department via a tenure-track like process. Such fellowships include: Wellcome Trust Career Development Award, MRC Career Development Award, CRUK Career Development Fellowship, ERC Starting Grant, Royal Society URF, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, EPSRC Open Fellowship, and similar awards.

Note that we run two selection rounds per year.

The deadline for this round is 5 Jan 2024. Salary will depend on experience.

For informal enquiries or more information, please see contact details on the UCL advert page.

We are looking for candidates to address fundamental questions in neuroscience, physiology and/or pharmacology using innovative approaches and technologies and to contribute to our teaching programmes. We welcome applications relevant to any part of the department’s research agenda.

Following application, shortlisted candidates will be invited to give a departmental seminar and meet with faculty members, students and current fellows. They will be expected to demonstrate how their research complements NPP’s research strategy and could contribute to collaborative programmes of work in the department. Interviews may be face-to-face or via an online platform. After this process, we will sponsor candidates who are a good fit for NPP and who will have competitive fellowship applications.

Candidates should confirm their eligibility for specific fellowships schemes and will be required to provide evidence of eligibility to work in the UK before commen cing any fellowship offered.

To apply, please upload only these documents on the online portal:

1) Your CV, including details of at least two referees [max 3 pages]
2) An outline of your fellowship proposal including specific research aims [max 2 pages]
3) A cover letter detailing the fellowship scheme(s) you are interested in being sponsored for, a timeline for application(s), and how you see yourself and your research programme fitting into the department [max 2 pages].

Our commitment starts with academic and administrative support throughout the application and interview stages for external fellowships. For successful fellows, we will provide support to ensure they can successfully establish their research group, gain opportunities to develop teaching skills and play a full role in the running of the department. Fellows will also benefit from career development and mentoring programmes, membership of the Biosciences Fellowship Network, access to additional support for their research, opportunities to attract PhD students through PhD programs and additional funding support beyond the end of the fellowship. We expect fellows to develop into strong candidates for permanent positions within the department and in line with this ethos, a large proportion of our past fellows have progressed to permanent positions within NPP.

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/