King's College London

About Us

The Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences (CHAPS) is situated within the School of Basic & Medical Biosciences(within the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine), which is led by Professor Mathias Gautel and comprises five departments with a wide range of expertise and interests. Using a bench to bedside approach, the School aims to answer fundamental questions about biology in health and disease and apply this knowledge to the development of new and innovative clinical practise, alongside providing a rigorous academic programme for students.

About the role

An opportunity to join a multidisciplinary Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital Charity funded study investigating mechanisms, risk factors and response to treatment of Long COVID symptoms, in the context of a randomised controlled trial of a novel psychophysiological intervention called Balance-ACT.

You will be responsible for performing a suite of physiological outcome measures designed to understand fatigue, breathlessness and physical activity in people with Long COVID symptoms who have been recruited to the Balance-ACT clinical trial. These physiological outcome measures will include lung function testing, tests of exercise capacity, muscle strength and fatiguability, and analysis of heart rate variability from ECG signals. The post holder will be responsible for day to day running of the physiological testing, physiological data analysis and will assist with recruitment and consenting of study participants. It is expected that the post holder will have some prior practical experience of human physiological testing, but the post-holder will receive comprehensive training in all aspects relevant to the Balance-ACT study including testing of cardiorespiratory and muscle function.

The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists working across the spectrum of physical and mental health under the supervision of Dr Caroline Jolley and Dr Gerrard Rafferty. The work will be conducted in the Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences laboratories in the King’s College Hospital Department of Respiratory Medicine on the Denmark Hill campus of King’s College London. The postholder will work in close collaboration with clinical colleagues in the community and hospital-based Long COVID services across King’s Health Partners, with strong links to the Department of Psychological Medicine.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract from 17 June 2025 until 31 December 2025.

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 healthcare science/physiology/sport and exercise medical sciences (or a related area) *
2. Good knowledge of cardiorespiratory and muscle physiology
3. Previous experience in physiological measurement of cardiac, lung or muscle function
4. Good communication skills
5. Ability to work effectively with colleagues, patients, relatives, GPs, and other agencies
6. Good organisational and time management skills
7. Enthusiasm and ability to work under pressure
8. Basic statistical knowledge

*  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.

Desirable criteria

1. Previous experience of work in a healthcare setting
2. Previous project management and/or research experience
3. Presentation of research at national/international meetings
4. Personal commitment to physiological research

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.

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 between 19 May 2025 - 30 May 2025.

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 Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearances.