King's College London

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About us:

This role is based within the Headache Group, under the supervision of Dr F. Puledda. We are part of the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre (SPaRC), within the Department of Neuroimaging at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.

The SPaRC and King’s IoPPN are a world-leading center for mental health and neuroscience research, providing an outstanding environment for collaborative, translational research at the interface of clinical neurology, psychiatry, and basic neuroscience.

About the role:

We are seeking a motivated postdoctoral fellow with an interest in primary headache disorders and related co-morbid conditions to help uncover novel disease mechanisms that can lead to the development of novel therapeutic targets. The individual will report to Dr Francesca Puledda and be responsible for conducting independent neurophysiological research projects, the supervision of more junior staff and students, while contributing to the running of the laboratory to include health and safety requirements.

The postholder will play a key role in implementing and maintaining a bespoke TMS-EEG and neuroimaging pipeline and in using advanced neurophysiology investigations and treatment of migraine and VSS. They will be responsible for managing and analysing large-scale EEG, TMS-EEG, and EP datasets, drawing on their experience with signal processing, neurophysiology tools, and programming.

In addition to technical tasks, the Postdoc will contribute to the smooth running of the research program through active collaboration with colleagues and external partners. They will be expected to communicate effectively with the wider team, including delivering training in analysis protocols and providing regular progress updates to the principal investigator. The role also includes supporting study set up of the project and obtaining regulatory approvals where needed.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/10/2027.

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 qualified in relevant subject area (or pending results)
2. Experience in TMS/EEG data collection, analysis and preprocessing
3. Experience in resting-state EEG data collection and analysis
4. Experience in evoked potentials data collection and analysis
5. Knowledge of visual snow syndrome and migraine
6. Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English
7. Ability to work in a team

Desirable criteria

1. Ability to work collaboratively between groups
2. Knowledge and experience in headache research
3. Experience with scientific writing

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.

* 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

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 fulfil 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.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

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 Disclosure and Barring Service and/or Occupational Health clearances.