King's College London

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About Us

Dementia is the greatest health challenge of our century.

To date there is no way to prevent it or even slow its progression, and there is an urgent need to fill the knowledge gap in our basic understanding of the diseases that cause it.

The  UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) is the biggest UK initiative driving forward research to fill this gap.

We are a globally leading multidisciplinary research institute of 850 staff investigating the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders causing dementia, with laboratory-based research groups located at University College London, the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Edinburgh University, Imperial College London, and King’s College London.

Centre context

Researchers at the  UK DRI at King’s use innovative approaches to explore the biological mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Their goal is to defeat dementia by uncovering vital new knowledge that will lead to the design of smarter diagnostics and effective treatments. The team aim to understand the fundamental biological processes involved in dementia at a molecular level – and to use that knowledge to design new ways to diagnose and treat disease more precisely.

About the role

Join the forefront of dementia research at the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) at King's College London, where our vibrant and interdisciplinary research community is dedicated to unravelling the complexities of with the most common types of motor neuron disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and frontotemporal dementia.

As part of the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, the UK DRI at King’s focuses on innovative cellular, molecular, and computational research to advance our understanding of neurodegeneration.

Dr Marc-David Ruepp is seeking an organised and enthusiastic individual for a full-time research assistant position to support their research on Motor Neurone Disease.

This position will involve significant work in mammalian cell culture and potentially stem cell culture, analysis of changes in gene expression by RT-PCR and qPCR, as well as processing, handling, and imaging of mouse brain tissue followed by IHC as well as cell lines by immunofluorescence and high-content imaging, and thus requires consistency and attention to detail, as well as a willingness for occasional weekend work in the context of cellular work.

The post-holder will also provide support for general organisational and technical duties to allow the smooth and efficient running of the lab.

The successful candidate should have significant laboratory experience, be willing to work as part of a team and to be open-minded and cooperative.

You will be a creative, and motivated scientist interested in pursuing questions deeply.

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

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. MSc/MSci in Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Neuroscience, Biophysics, or related field or equivalent experience        
2. Solid experience in mammalian cell culture
3. Experience in Immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, high content imaging with cell lines, mouse brain tissue, post-mortem brain tissue  
4. Experience in antibody labelling
5. Experience in nucleic acid isolation, RT, qPCR 
6. Experience in RNA interference using shRNAs
7. Experience in preparing and handling mouse brain tissues and sections 

Desirable criteria

1. Understanding of and/or experience in genome engineering

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 page. 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.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

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.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearance.