King's College London

About us

Dr George Goodwin is a Research Fellow supported by Arthritis UK. His research aims to develop a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of arthritis pain to enable the development of more effective analgesic drugs. You will join Dr Goodwin’s laboratory, based in the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre.

About the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre

The Wolfson SPaRC (Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre) is one of four departments in the School of Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. The department is located on the Guy’s Campus in a dedicated building which was generously supported by the Wolfson Foundation.

Research in the department spans three main themes: Chronic Pain & Migraine, Spinal Cord & Brain Repair, and Hearing Loss & Sensory Systems. Our fundamental mission is to understand the biological mechanisms behind these neurological and sensory disorders and harness this knowledge to develop new therapeutic strategies. We have world-leading experts who interrogate these conditions at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and whole systems level. Cross-cutting strengths lie in our world-leading expertise in neuroplasticity, interdisciplinary neuro-immune research, high-throughput sequencing technologies, drug discovery and advanced therapeutics. We have excellent facilities to support our parallel use of pre-clinical cell and in vivo models, alongside human cellular models, which provide an essential platform for us to forward- and back-translate our fundamental research to and from the clinic.

About us

We are looking for a Research Assistant to join Dr George Goodwin’s group within the Wolfson SPaRC, in the School of Neurosciences at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.

George’s  group is focused on understanding the neurobiology of arthritis pain. He recently received a 5-year career development fellowship from Arthritis UK that is focused on understanding the role of silent nociceptors in arthritis pain. The project involves the use of a variety of techniques, including in vivo calcium imaging, transgenic mouse lines, chemo genetics, behaviour and histology to study silent nociceptors in mouse models of rheumatoid- and osteo-arthritis.

The successful candidate will be responsible for general mouse colony management, as well as performing and assisting in in vivo mouse experiments and downstream laboratory experiments. They will record, analyse and write up the results of experiments, as well as support and assist other lab members. The candidate will be a dedicated researcher with enthusiasm towards high quality research, teamwork, and effective organisation.

This role is funded by Arthritis UK: MT/CDF/23267

This is a full time (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an a fixed term contract for 3 years.

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. Hold a BSc and/or Master’s degree 2:1 or higher in a relevant discipline (e.g. Neuroscience, Physiology, Pharmacology, Biological sciences)
2. Hold a Home Office Personal License PIL A & B
3. Proven ability to communicate effectively in writing as well as orally
4. Excellent planning and organisational skills including ability to work to and meet firm deadlines
5. Ability to work independently and effectively as part of a team
6. Good problem-solving skills

Desirable criteria

1. Experience of running PCRs for genotyping and managing transgenic mouse colonies
2. Experience of handling and/or performing behavioural tests in rodents
3. Experience of performing immunohistochemistry and/or fluorescence microscopy
4. Experience of basic molecular biology (WB, qPCR etc)
5. Knowledge of the pain or neuroscience fields

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

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university. The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfill our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension. We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination. When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance. 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.

This post is subject to an Occupational Health Clearance.