King's College London

About us

The post is based within two research groups at the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute on the Denmark Hill Campus within the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience (BCN). (www.kcl.ac.uk/neuroscience/about/departments/basic-clinical-neuroscience). This is part of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. Additionally, one research group is placed within the UK Dementia Research Institute (DRI) centre that is embedded within the BCN Department. (www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/bcn/dri/lab-groups) 

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the labs of Dr Caroline Vance and Dr Marc-David Ruepp to work on an MND Association funded project to explore the role of the ALS-related protein FUS and its function at the synapse. Led by Caroline Vance, this project will utilise a range of iPSC models to investigate how mutations and physiological aspects of FUS itself affect synaptic vesicle biology and synaptic maintenance. You will join a multidisciplinary team on the Denmark Hill Campus with a leading role in: 

• Designing and performing experiments
• Developing technical advances
• Performing data analysis
• Presenting the results internally as well as externally 
• Writing up manuscripts to be submitted to peer-review journals

Post holders will also be given opportunities to work closely with a broad range of other scientists across the department.

King’s College also encourages continued professional development of its staff through both internal and external educational courses covering skills such as project, financial or time management and communication, as well as scientific topics.  

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30th September 2027.

About you

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD in Neuroscience or related discipline (or pending results)
2. Experience in iPSC culture
3. In-depth knowledge of cell biology
4. Experience in neuronal differentiation
5. Experience in neuronal phenotyping
6. Practical experience in a broad range of standard laboratory techniques including light microscopy and molecular biology (e.g. immunofluorescence, cloning, qPCR, cell culture)
7. Excellent written communication skills and the ability to write clearly and succinctly for publication

Desirable criteria

1. Knowledge of ALS and/or other neurodegenerative diseases
2. Understanding synaptic biology
3. Experience in high-throughput microscopy
4.  Experience working with primary cells and tissues
5. Experience in genome editing

Downloading a copy of our Job Description 

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

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 will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

This post is subject to an Occupational Health clearance.