King's College London

About us:

The Social Computation and Representation Lab (SoCR Lab; www.socrlab.net) uses mathematical models and causal experimental designs to understand the fundamental rules behind human and AI social interaction in health and disorder. This is with the ultimate aim to improve psychiatric support for service users and improve the intuition, ethics, and efficiency of AI systems. We are based at the IoPPN, King’s College London, a world-leading institute well-known for its close-knit community, collaborative atmosphere, and outstanding research support. 

About the role:

We are seeking a highly motivated research assistant to join the SoCR Lab led by Dr Joseph M Barnby.

You will work within a wider group environment that will test the social cognitive mechanisms underlying health and disorder, using computational models, psychopharmacological manipulation, and imaging designs.

The research assistant will support and train within a research program focused on developing and testing the computational mechanisms of social inference and representation, although will have plenty of scope, and will be encouraged, to develop and expand their own research interests. The postholder will work under the supervision of PI Dr Joseph M Barnby and also benefit from collaboration with postdocs and PhD students within the group.

This role will provide you with the freedom to develop new and creative ideas, methodologies, and/or approaches to challenging important questions of interest to the lab. You will be supported in finding a research area that interests you, encouraged to develop a research programme of your own, and apply for independent funding.

You will be primarily based at the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences (KCL, London, UK) but will also have the opportunity to travel and work at the School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience (UWA, Perth, AU).

Importantly, we adopt a flexible working environment within the lab and are happy to organise working arrangements that suite your individual needs. We enjoy diversity of thought, ideas, and experience within the lab and approach our work with the same mindset. All of our data and code is open, and we will expect the postholder to adopt open science principles during the course of their stay with the SoCR lab.

This role will involve:

• Refining the implementing decision-making social and non-social paradigms for pre specified research hypotheses.
• Conducting model simulations, fitting, and recovery, as well as statistical inferences on model outputs, for pre specified research hypotheses.
• Writing manuscripts in to disseminate research findings.
• Present summaries of study updates at internal meetings and meetings with external collaborators, and at national and international conferences.
• Managing and organising own workload.
• Working with Dr Joseph Barnby and the wider team to develop novel research questions and theories of interest. This will be highly encouraged.
• Other relevant activities as directed by the line manager.

This is a part-time post (3.5 Hours per week), and you will be offered an a fixed term contract until 1st June 2029

To apply, please provide a cover letter, an updated curriculum vitae, and contact information for 3 references. Cover letters should directly address all essential (and desirable if possible) criteria and describe the following: 1) past research experience and contributions to science, 2) relevance of research experience for current position, and 3) career development plans. Please contact Dr Joseph Barnby (joe.barnby@kcl.ac.uk) with any informal enquiries.

About you:

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

Essential criteria 

1. BSc in Philosophy, mathematics, cognitive science, or equivalent
2. Previous experience in social cognitive research  
3. Knowledge and prior experience of theories of social representation 
4. Excellent verbal and written communication skills  
5. Ability to work independently as well as within a team. 
6. Good organisational and time management skills, including ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines. 

Desirable criteria

1. MSc in Cognitive Science, Philosophy, Mathematics, or equivalent 
2. Previous experience of computational methods and theory 
3. Previous experience and knowledge of research methods  
4. Previous experience working with projects involving artificial neural networks

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.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and we recognise its growing role in professional work. Applicants may use AI tools to support preparation of their application, for example to research the role or structure written responses. However, applications must reflect the applicant’s own work and experience. AI tools should not be used during interviews or assessment activities unless this has been agreed in advance as a reasonable adjustment. Further guidance on the use of AI in recruitment can be found here.

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.