King's College London

About us:

At the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology (CDN), we investigate the mechanisms governing the formation of the brain during embryonic development and in early postnatal life. This is based on the understanding that early experience shapes the way our brain is constructed. While the “ground plan” of the brain is genetically determined, it is also influenced by environmental experience. We are still far from a complete understanding of how these processes work.

CDN is one of four departments in the School of Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience and is located at Guy’s campus. Researchers have access to support facilities in genotyping, molecular biology and Drosophila work. CDN has close partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and CDN researchers, together with clinical researchers from King’s, make up the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. 

About the role: 

We are seeking a skilled and motivated postdoctoral scientist with experience and expertise in human stem cell culture to join our UKRI-funded Functional Genomics of Human Developing Brain cluster. This project focuses on investigating loss-of-function mutations in genes associated with neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders through comprehensive molecular and functional profiling of cortical organoids.

The Research Associate will be involved in the development and implementation of a cutting-edge platform for generating brain organoids and assembloids from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The successful candidate will undertake original research in the Brain Organoid Platform ensuring the highest standards of research excellence while maintaining detailed experimental records and contributing to the training of facility users.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop a research project in a state-of-the-art brain organoids platform at the forefront of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorder research. The successful candidate will join a dynamic research environment with access to cutting-edge facilities and the opportunity to make significant contributions to understanding brain development and disease.

This is a full time (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed-term contract until 13/05/2028.

About you:  

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

Essential criteria:

1. PhD in Neuroscience, Developmental Biology, Cell Biology, Genetics, or related field
2. Extensive hands-on experience with in vitro culture of neural cells, especially with the culture and maintenance of human induced pluripotent and embryonic stem cells 
3.  Experience in molecular biology procedures (e.g. western blot, quantitative PCR, immunofluorescence RNA sequencing and cloning) 
4.  Experience with confocal microscopy imaging techniques  
5.  Strong organizational skills with attention to detail
6.  Able to work independently in the design and execution of experiments 

Desirable criteria:

1.  Experience in generation and maintenance of neural organoids 
2.  Experience using rodent experimental models in neuroscience 
3.  Experience with single-cell RNA sequencing, including sample preparation, and bioinformatics tools for the analysis of sequencing datasets 
4.  Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines
5.  Experience in supervising and training research personnel 

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

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.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.