King's College London

About us

The successful candidate will become part of the Department of Neuroimaging, of King’s College London, which is contained within the ‘School of Neuroscience’ of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IOPPN), London.  The IOPPN is one of the most successful institutions of King’s College London.  The Department has three 3Tesla MRI scanners dedicated to research; and one pre-clinical 9.4Tesla MRI scanner.

Our department is devoted to the development of advanced methods for imaging structural and functional aspects of the human brain; and applying these methods to clinically based investigations in the context of Psychiatry, Psychology or Neuroscience.

About the role

This post is funded by the Neuroimaging Theme of the ‘Maudsley-KCL Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) for Mental Health’.  This is an initiative of the National Institute for Health Research.

The appointee will work in a team of scientists dedicated to improve acquisition and analysis methods for a wide range of projects.

We seek to employ a Post Doctoral Research fellow with significant experience in Magnetic Resonance Physics, to write and/or implement pulse sequences for imaging Blood Brain Barrier transport in a non-invasive manner.  A secondary aim of the role is to investigate and implement methods for imaging transport of cerebro-spinal fluid, particularly with regard to the Glymphatic System.  These are areas of growing importance in the field of neurodegeneration.

The successful candidate will work under the supervision and management of Dr Fernando Zelaya and Dr Federico Turkheimer.  He/she will interact with other members of the MR Physics & Analysis sections of the department, depending on the needs of the project.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until March 31, 2028.

About you

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD awarded in physics, mathematics, engineering or any other relevant physical sciences area (or pending results)
2. Competent with MR pulse sequence design and programming
3. Experience with the use of functional (or physiological) MRI techniques
4. Competent with programming in C or C++, or Matlab, or Python
5. Experience with Image Processing packages such as FSL, or SPM, or AFNI, or FreeSurfer.  Or any other established methods
6. Experience with executing research projects involving scanning of human subjects in clinical scanners
7. Able to work harmoniously in a team of physical scientists

Desirable criteria

1. Experience with programming pulse sequences in General Electric scanners
2. Experience in Arterial Spin Labelling
3. Experience with methods to image Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism
4. Experience with imaging Blood brain barrier or the glymphatic system

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.

Interviews are due to be held in December 2024

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