King's College London

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About us

We are seeking a collaborative Research Fellow in the Department of Neuroimaging to work on the UNITY (Ultra-low-field Neuroimaging In The Young) project. UNITY is an international multi-site network of specialist neuroimaging centers and clinical partners led by KCL and funded by the Gates Foundation. The goal of this global collaboration is to increase neuroimaging accessibility in LMICs by validating the feasibility of a novel ultra- low-field MRI system. Thus far, scanners have been implemented in clinical research sites across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia as a complementary tool in ongoing research on prevalent and context-specific health priorities. The powerful impact of this work lies in its ability to transform the neuroimaging landscape in LMICs by validating the use of an accessible and feasible tool for inclusion in both research and clinical services.

About the role

With the renewal of the UNITY grant from the Gates Foundation for a further 3 years, we would like to expand our team with a new post for a Research Fellow with a clinical qualification in Neuropsychology and specialised expertise in Paediatric Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. This candidate should have experience in scanning babies and young children, conducting clinical research, brain imaging analysis and interpretation on both traditional and low-field datasets, running training and capacity building programmes, public engagement, and fostering collaboration across sites. The post-holder will also need to have extensive experience working in LMICs across Africa and Asia, with insight into the strategies and approaches relevant to low-resource settings. They will also need to fulfill a bridging role aimed at fostering cross-site team collaboration and partnership, across the network, particularly between the UK and one of the primary clinical research sites in South Africa (University of Cape Town).  

Overall, the role requirements fall under eight key categories:

-          Senior contribution (analysis and write-up) and authorship on high-impact academic research papers drawing upon datasets from across UNITY sites

-          Supervision of teams across UNITY studies including PRISMA, CHIME, and SPACE

-          Oversight of collaborative initiatives including running the Gates Foundation all-partners forum for global updates and knowledge exchange opportunities

-          Senior leadership of the UNITY Training and Capacity Development Programme, in partnership with industry partners such as Collective Minds

-          Involvement in teaching and supervision in the KCL department of neuroimaging

-          Support of data collection activities (scanning babies and children, neurodevelopmental assessments) for UK-based KCL research at St Thomas’ and/or the Pears Maudsley Centre

-          Support grant applications for the acquisition and renewal of funding at KCL

-          Coordinate public engagement projects and resource development for use across contexts

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week) and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31st October 2028.

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. PhD awarded in Paediatric Neuroscience 
2. An internationally recognised clinical qualification in Neuropsychology (MA) with registration on a health board and experience in clinical practice.
3. Specialised expertise conducting paediatric MRI across high and ultra-low-field strengths with high-risk populations. Clinical proficiency working with babies and young children, with insight and knowledge of strategies for success in low-resource LMIC settings.
4.  Extensive experience in a senior role leading large-scale training and capacity development programmes in collaboration with clinical, academic, and industry partners such as Collective Minds.
5.  A strong background of working collaboratively in a bridging role aimed at fostering partnership, with oversight of work being conducted by teams across sites on a global scale. Knowledge and experience running public engagement initiatives in LMC settings.
6. Experience and competency in the analysis and interpretation of brain imaging data from large datasets. 
7. A good track record of primary authorship in publications and proficiency in presenting at conferences, including abstracts, symposiums, and invited talks.
8. Previous success in grant applications and the acquisition of funding for research. Experience in completing funding progress reports.

Desirable criteria

1. Previous lecturing and supervision experience.
2. Experience processing neuroimaging data using pipelines such as FreeSurfer, SynthSeg, SPM, and MiniMORPH. 
3. Familiarity with third party platforms such as Flywheel and Collective Minds. 
4. Experience in developing protocols, ethics applications, and standard operating procedures. 
5. Experience conducting neurodevelopmental and cognitive assessments. 

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 person specification section of the job description. 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.