Research Assistant in the Department of Neuroimaging – INTERNAL ONLY

Job id: 084225. Salary: £37,332 – £38,966 per annum pro rata, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 09 February 2024. Closing date: 14 February 2024.

Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Neuroimaging.

Contact details:Peter Hawkins. [email protected]

Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Research.

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

Job description

Applications are invited to join a research team aiming to understand the brain mechanisms of drug action in healthy humans using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. One research assistant position is available. The candidate will be based in the Department of Neuroimaging.  

The post-holder will assist in running a group of studies examining the effects of different drugs (e.g caffeine) using established and novel imaging methods and blood markers. Data will be collected in a multidisciplinary research environment and the post-holder will work with other researchers on the project, clinicians, research nurses, administrators, pharmacy and liaise with our commercial funders.  

Duties will include patient recruitment, organising of study days, data collection, processing, analysis and contribution to the writing of research reports. We understand that early-career candidates may require additional training in some elements of the role, which will be provided.  

This post will be offered on a part-time (50% FTE), fixed-term contract until 1st August 2024.

Key responsibilities

• Undertake research of high quality consistent with making a full active research contribution in line Department/School research strategy. 
• Be involved with all aspects of the research (recruitment, room/scanner booking, testing, data management, data processing and analysis).
• Liaise with research collaborators to assist with the study conduct.
• Attend training as required.
• Present summaries of study updates (e.g. no. of people screened/recruited/tested, findings) internal meetings and meetings with external collaborators.
• Contribute to the internal and external visibility of the department.
• Work as a conscientious and committed member of the team in order to achieve the aims of the project.
• Contribute to publications arising from this project.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties that may be relevant to the role outline.  

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria

1.       First degree in relevant field (e.g. Neuroscience, Psychology, Other  

2.       Biological  Sciences, Medicine) 

3.       Experience and knowledge of conducting functional MRI studies 

4.       Experience and knowledge of collecting clinical, psychophysical or psychometric tests in humans 

5.       Experience and knowledge of project management 

6.       Understanding of parametric statistics (e.g. ANOVA, linear regression) 

7.       Core ICT skills including MS Office 

Desirable criteria

1.       Excellent written and verbal communication skills 

2.       Ability to solve problems independently as part of a multi-disciplinary team 

3.       Proficiency in use of univariate statistical packages (e.g. R, SPSS) 

4.       Proficiency in use of UNIX environment and awareness of scripting/coding (e.g. shell-scripting, Matlab) 

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance.