King's College London

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About Us

Research Assistant at the Khan lab, King’s College London.

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

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant position funded by the Wellcome Trust to work in the laboratory of Dr Adil Khan, in the Centre of Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London. 

The successful candidate will undertake original and state of the art biomedical research as an integral member of a group working on neural circuits underlying flexible behaviour in mice.  The successful candidate will also provide logistical, technical and organisational support to other group members in the laboratory. The successful candidate will focus on mouse behavioural training.

Applicants should have an MSc in Biological Sciences (or similar) and have a background working in neuroscience, including mouse behaviour. Candidates should be motivated, a team-player and be able to work on their own initiative. 

The selection process will be a panel interview. 

For an informal discussion to find out more about the role please contact Dr Adil Khan khan.adil@kcl.ac.uk. 

This is a full time / part time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an fixed term contract until 14/09/2027.

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. MSc in Neuroscience or similar
2. Experience training mice on cognitive task-switching behaviour
3. Experience in food restriction of mice with weight management
4. Experience in maintaining records for animal behaviour    
5. Experience in using custom code in languages such as Matlab

Desirable criteria

1. Troubleshooting malfunctioning lab equipment

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 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.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.