Clinical or Non Clinical Research Fellow (Prudence Trust)

Job description

We are looking for an outstanding post-doctoral researcher to undertake the Prudence Trust Fellowship in Children and Young People’s Mental Health at Kings College London. The Fellowship is aimed at early- to mid-career researchers with either clinical or non-clinical  background who have a strong research track-record in the field for their career stage. The Fellowship will start between December 2023 and  March 2024, and funding is available for 3-years (full-time) or 4-years (part-time).

Research conducted during the Fellowship should be focused on improving outcomes for children and young people (8-25 years) who experience depression and anxiety or are at risk of developing these conditions. In particular, existing effective interventions are too often not available or not used effectively, creating a substantial treatment gap for these conditions, and new research is urgently needed to provide models to dramatically increase accessibility. Some questions you might consider include:

• What can be done to ensure that young people are offered the treatment that is most appropriate for them at the right time?
• How can assessments and diagnosis be improved to result in better outcomes for young people?
• What can be done to make evidence-based therapies easier to deliver at scale whilst still retaining effectiveness? How can these therapies be delivered more cost-effectively?
• What evidence-based therapies can be adapted to be more suitable for particular at-risk groups?
• What needs to be done to promote acceptance and uptake of interventions in clinical services? What are the barriers and how can they be overcome?
• How can we influence policy to ensure research is implemented?

Our interest is in early intervention and treatment of anxiety and depression but understand that these conditions co-exist with other mental health conditions (e.g. obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders). We are therefore open to research relating to these other conditions, as long as it is likely to have wider, positive impact on young people with anxiety or depression.

This fellowship is open to researchers in any discipline (and can be interdisciplinary) but we expect most applicants to be working at a clinical translational interface, as we hope the research will lead to practical applications and real-life change.

Prudence Trust Fellowships are aimed at talented individuals who have some post-doctoral research experience; have shown evidence of delivering in past appointments including a track record of productive research; are on an upward trajectory; and may have already gained some small research funding (not essential) but not enough for research independence. The Fellow should be ready to make the transition to independent researcher, leading their own original research and beginning to develop their own research group, with clear potential for research leadership (see: https://www.ukri.org/what-we-offer/developing-people-and-skills/mrc/skills-and-experience-needed-to-win-support/).  Time since PhD is not a criterion and career breaks and part-time working are taken into consideration alongside trajectories. In your application you should be able to justify that this is the right time for you to undertake this Fellowship alongside the responsibilities listed below. Through this Prudence Trust scheme we want to help build the career of the brightest individuals who have shown commitment to mental health research and to help them on their way to establishing their independence as a principal investigator. We want to support individuals who will embrace and benefit from our networking and collaboration opportunities, and who have the potential to become international research leaders. King’s and the Prudence Trust are committed to actively and openly supporting and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and candidates with intersectional identities are welcomed.

The Fellow will work within the new £65M Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People (https://www.kingsmaudsley.org/pearsmaudsleycentre/) and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience’s (IoPPN) Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The IoPPN is Europe’s largest centre for research and postgraduate education in psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience. It is world-renowned for the quality of our research and produces more highly cited publications in psychiatry and mental health than any other university in the world (Scopus, 2016; SciVal 2019). In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework we were judged to have the second highest research power in the UK for Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, and the impact of our work was 100% world leading or internationally excellent, and our research environment judged as 100% world leading. The IoPPN has strong ties with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, which provides the widest range of children’s mental health services in Europe, including inpatient services on two hospital sites and community children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) serving a diverse local population of 1.3 million people living in some of London’s most deprived boroughs including Bromley, Bexley, Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark. In addition to local support, SLaM provides more than 20 National and Specialist services for children and young people from across the UK and abroad.

Up to £500K total direct costs are available for this Fellowship. The award should cover the Fellow’s salary (including London Weighting and on-costs [NI/SA]; appointment may be anything from Grade 7 post doc research to early career clinical consultant, and salary will be dependent upon experience and clinical qualification) and research costs (e.g., research staff [research associate or technician], continuing professional development and training, equipment, materials, and consumables, travel, patient and public involvement costs, dissemination costs).

The applicant is expected to budget the Fellowship appropriately within the funding envelope with value for money being paramount.

Clinical applicants:

The Fellow will be expected to spend 80% of their time on research activities. The remainder of the time will be spent on teaching, administrative duties, or clinical work.

Non clinical applicants:

The Fellow will be expected to spend 80% of their time on research activities. The remainder of the time will be spent on teaching or administrative duties

How to apply

As part of the application process, applicants must submit a research proposal detailing their planned work. Although Fellowship work will be undertaken in the Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People and the IoPPN Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the Fellow will be encouraged to collaborate broadly across the IoPPN to deliver their research goals.

Applicants will be selected via a two-step process:

1. Stage 1 (deadline 23:59 on 11th June 2023), applicants will be asked to submit Stage-1 application form.
2. Stage 2 (by invitation, following review of Stage 1 applications; deadline 23:59 on 3rd September), shortlisted applicants will work with internal sponsors to develop a full application and will be interviewed.

To apply, please complete the Stage 1 Application Form

This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract until 31-Dec-2026 and may be at full-time or part time in agreement with the successful candidate

Key responsibilities

Main purpose of the job 

• To conduct world leading research in children and young people’s mental health, to build evidence for improving outcomes for you people suffering from anxiety and depression. 
• To conduct outstanding, creative and innovative research in order to develop internationally renowned outcomes through high quality publications.
• To establish an independent research career through developing a unique research programme

Duties and responsibilities

• Generate and pursue independent and original research ideas, design and conduct a successful programme of investigation and develop innovative, world class research.
• Publish (as first or senior author) in high quality peer reviewed national and international journals.
• Participate in seminars and workshops as appropriate. 
• Present research at national and international conferences/meetings as appropriate.
• Develop research networks locally, nationally and internationally in support of the research programme including facilitating and participating in cross-cutting research collaborations.
• Provide guidance to other staff and students in his/her/their specialist area.
• Take part in knowledge transfer activities, as appropriate.
• Take part in enabling activities, as appropriate.
• Contribute to teaching and training activities relevant to departmental activity.
• Seek opportunities to manage own continuing professional development throughout the Fellowship programme.
• Actively follow and promote KCL policies, including Equal Opportunities.
• Maintain awareness and observation of ethical and research governance regulations, plus fire and health and safety regulations.
• Carry out any other duties commensurate with the grade and purpose of the post.
• The Fellow will be expected to spend 80% of their time on research activities. The remainder of the time will be spent on teaching or administrative duties.
• For clinical applicatants the Fellow will be expected to spend 80% of their time on research activities. The remainder of the time will be spent on teaching, administrative duties or clinical work.

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 (non clinical)

1. PhD or equivalent research-related degree in an appropriate discipline.
2. Significant postdoctoral research experience
3. Recent record of outstanding publications with a strong portfolio of first-author publications in terms of quality of journal and number
4. Ability to conduct independent research
5. A developed and ambitious approach to the key directions for future research in an identified area which is independent of prior supervisors or proposed collaborators
6. Ability to plan and implement a creative and influential independent research programme
7. Strong communication skills required to disseminate findings and influence the research field
8. Resourceful and able to act on own initiative
9. Proactive and creative independent thinker

Essential criteria (clinical)

1. Applicants must have an MBBS degree and GMC registration, or equivalent certifications in Clinical Psychology, Nursing, or other clinical profession.
2. PhD or equivalent research-related degree in an appropriate discipline.
3. Significant postdoctoral research experience
4. Recent record of outstanding publications with a strong portfolio of first-author publications in terms of quality of journal and number
5. Ability to conduct independent research
6. A developed and ambitious approach to the key directions for future research in an identified area which is independent of prior supervisors or proposed collaborators
7. Ability to plan and implement a creative and influential independent research programme
8. Strong communication skills required to disseminate findings and influence the research field
9. Resourceful and able to act on own initiative
10. Proactive and creative independent thinker 

Desirable criteria

1. Indicators of influence and reputation in the field, e.g., invitations to national/international conferences, publication of review articles/book chapters, impact on policy, patents
2. Demonstrated experience in research-related enabling activities, e.g., serving as peer reviewer for journals
3. Experience in securing research funding, including short post-doctoral Fellowships (which are not designed for independence) and small grants
4. Ability to network and effectively build research collaborations
5. Demonstrated ability to manage research budgets
6. Vision to be a research leader and show an ability to identify and maximise potential in others