Research Associate

Job ID: 016444

Salary: £38,304- £45,026 London Allowance per annum

Posted: 18-Feb-2021

Closing date: 24-Mar-2021

Business unit: IoPPN

Department: Developmental Neurobiology 

Contact details: Adil Khan, khan.adil@kcl.ac.uk, 020 7848 6513 

Guy's Campus   Research    

Job description
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral researcher position funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The successful applicant will pursue a research project with the goal of understanding how brain-wide neural circuits lead to flexible cognitive  behaviours in mice. The techniques employed will include chronic in-vivo two photon calcium imaging of excitatory and inhibitory cell classes, targeted optogenetic manipulations, viral vector based functional circuit mapping, and quantitative mouse behaviour.

The successful applicant will benefit from the collaborative culture of the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King's College London and will have the opportunity to develop collaborations with groups studying animal models of brain disorders.

Candidates must have a strong research track record. Experience with in-vivo two photon imaging, rodent behaviour and analysis of complex datasets will be highly valued. Candidates with programming skills are encouraged to apply.

Contract
This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract until 31st May 2023
This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities

• Train mice to perform flexible, cognitive behaviours
• Perform chronic two-photon imaging in behaving mice
• Use viral injections to label distinct cell types based on projection target or molecular class
• Perform optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations of cells during behavior and during imaging
• Perform post-hoc immunostaining and confocal imaging
• Perform image processing and computational analysis of data from experiments in the lab

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

• PhD in Neuroscience or related discipline (or close to completion)
• Experience in addressing neural circuit-level questions
• Strong publication record
• Experience with quantitative data analysis and statistical methods

Desirable

• Experience with rodent behaviour,
• Experience with stereotactic injections of viral vectors and immunohistochemistry
• Knowledge of and familiarity with imaging methods, particularly 2-photon in-vivo calcium imaging
• Advanced quantitative analysis skills, particularly of imaging and behavioural datasets
• Programming and statistics skills using Matlab/Python/R or similar.

*Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.