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Research Assistant or Research Associate

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
Denmark Hill Campus, King's College London
Salary
£38,232 - £47,632 (including London Weighting Allowance)
Closing date
7 Feb 2025
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Job Details

About King's:

From its earliest years, the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) has been fundamentally changing and shaping how we understand, prevent and treat mental illness and other conditions that affect the brain.  The legacy, ethos and drive of the IoPPN has ensured its position at the forefront of mental health care, redefining mental illness, its treatment and its place in society.

 

The IoPPN is divided into 14 academic departments across three major academic Schools: Academic Psychiatry, Mental Health & Psychological Sciences, and Neuroscience.

 

The Department of Psychosis Studies, part of the School of Academic Psychiatry, is one of the world’s leading centres for research into psychotic disorders. Our research includes the following major themes: Comorbidities & transdiagnostic approaches; Interventions; Neuroscience & biological mechanisms; Prediction and analytics; Risk factors and population health; and Treatment resistance. Our work involves a wide range of methodologies, including artificial intelligence/ digital technologies and interventions, cognitive neuroscience approaches, epidemiology, experimental medicine and clinical trials, ex vivo analyses, genomics, health service and applied research, meta-analysis and evidence synthesis, prevention and early intervention, psychological approaches, psychopathology/ phenomenology, neuroimaging, real world data analyses and natural language processing, and stem cell techniques.

About the role:

This is an exciting position where the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work as part of an internationally leading team of researchers investigating cannabinoid-based treatments for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders and play a key role in a new line of research investigating the safety, efficacy and mechanism of action of a novel cannabinoid-based pharmacological treatment for Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The team has a particular interest in investigating the mechanism of action of cannabinoids and a key component of this program of work will involve the application of cutting-edge neuroimaging techniques (such as fMRI) to investigate the neural substrates underpinning the harmful effects of recreational cannabis use as well as potential therapeutic effects of cannabinoids.

 

As part of this role, the appointed person will be directly involved in a multi-centre randomised clinical trial to evaluate this new pharmacological treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease Psychosis. will support the recruitment of participants and study visits as well as other trial-related activities as may be required. They may also be involved in the analysis of data, drafting of publications, knowledge dissemination activities. Based on their background, if appropriate they may be involved in the teaching and/ supervision of other researchers, students (e.g. undergraduate or postgraduate students).

 

The person will be based in the Department of Psychosis Studies, School of Academic Psychiatry, IoPPN at KCL and will work closely with Prof Sagnik Bhattacharyya (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/professor-sagnikbhattacharyya) and other investigators based at King’s College London, in particular Dr Latha Velayudhan (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/dr-latha-velayudhan), based in the Psychological Medicine department at King’s College London.

They will also interact with clinical fellows, research assistants, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students working in the group.

 

This will be appointed at either grade 5 (pre-doctoral) or grade 6 (post-doctoral) depending on the suitable candidate’s career stage and level of experience.

About you:

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

 

Grade 5:

 

Essential criteria

 

1. Undergraduate degree (2:1 or above) in Psychology or related field or an undergraduate degree in nursing.

2. Relevant clinical /research experience (e.g. Parkinson’s or other neurodegenerative disorders, clinical trials) or an MSc in a relevant subject (e.g. neurodegenerative disorders, clinical trials, clinical neuroscience, psychiatric research, mental health studies).

3. Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary and clinical teams in research and ability to deal sensitively with study participants and their families/carers.Self-motivated with ability to work independently and having good organisational and time management skills.

4. Self-motivated with ability to work independently and having good organisational and time management skills.

5. Excellent interpersonal skills to develop and maintain effective working relationships

 

Desirable criteria

 

1. An understanding of data protection and patient confidentiality.

2. Knowledge of neuropsychiatric or neurodegenerative disorders.

3. Ability to prepare ethical, research and development applications and knowledge of research governance Full details of the role and the skills and experience required, can be found in the attached job description which provided on the next page.

4. Publication record appropriate for career stage

 

Grade 6:

 

Essential criteria

 

1. PhD in Psychiatry, Psychology or related field.

2. Relevant clinical /research experience (e.g. Parkinson’s or other neurodegenerative disorders, clinical trials) or an MSc in a relevant subject (e.g. neurodegenerative disorders, clinical trials, clinical neuroscience, psychiatric research, mental health studies).

3. Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary and clinical teams in research and ability to deal sensitively with study participants and their families/carers. Self-motivated with ability to work independently and having good organisational and time management skills.

4. Self-motivated with ability to work independently and having good organisational and time management skills.

5. Excellent interpersonal skills to develop and maintain effective working relationships

 

Desirable criteria

 

1. An understanding of data protection and patient confidentiality.

2. Knowledge of neuropsychiatric or neurodegenerative disorders.

3. Ability to prepare ethical, research and development applications and knowledge of research governance Full details of the role and the skills and experience required, can be found in the attached job description which provided on the next page.

4. Publication record appropriate for career stage

Further information

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

 

To find out how our managers review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

 

Interviews date/s TBC.

 

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK. Please note this is dependent on the salary offered which is based on your experience and will be discussed at the offer stage.

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
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KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
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LONDON
WC2R 2LS
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