King's College London

About Us

​​The School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Medicine & Sciences (SCMMS) provides an outstanding multi-disciplinary environment for the pursuit of cutting-edge cardiovascular and metabolic research (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/scms).  

​ ​We study the fundamental molecular, cellular, and physiological processes that underly normal and abnormal cardiovascular and metabolic function and we drive the translation of this strong basic science into advances in clinical practice to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment.  This activity provides a high-quality research and training environment for non-clinical and clinical scientists.  

​ ​The School occupies facilities across the Guy’s, St Thomas’ and Denmark Hill campuses of King’s College London and comprises over 65 academic groups, hosting 400 staff and 110 PhD students.  

​​Our community of world-renowned researchers and educators have access to a state-of-the art core facilities and expertise, including for high-throughput screening, multimodality in vivo imaging, proteomics, integrative physiology and viral & non-viral vector production. As part of King’s Health Partners, we have an excellent environment for basic-clinical interaction and a strong focus on mentoring and career development.  

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​The School is a partner of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy’s and St. Thomas’, which offers world class facilities for translational studies and phase I/II clinical trials.​  

About The Role

Dr Rudyk’s lab aims to understand oxidation-based and metabolic mechanisms underlying vascular changes in cardiovascular homeostasis and disease. The successful candidate will broadly investigate how oxidant signalling regulates growth-related kinases in the vasculature; the roles of these processes in maintaining health (vasodilation, pulmonary vascular cell proliferation) and/or their dysregulation during disease, such as pulmonary hypertension. There is flexibility in the precise experimental approach, which will be tailored to the interests, skills and training ambitions of the successful applicant.

A variety of methods and skills are suitable for this position and may include those related to molecular biology (cell signalling, DNA and protein analyses, fluorescence imaging, redox biochemistry, proteomics, RNA-Seq), and/or physiology or disease model assessment (e.g., chronic hypoxia, pulmonary hypertension, metabolism, vascular myography, echocardiography, blood pressure telemetry). Experience with disease models, such as heart failure or systemic hypertension or other cardiac stress scenarios, is also welcome.

The ideal candidate requires a PhD in a relevant area of research, with a good track record of publishing their work in leading journals, using the methods and skills listed above. You must be ambitious, strongly research-motivated and reliable, with good organisational, verbal and interpersonal skills and attention to detail, willing to work self-driven on your own and as part of a research team. You will also be able to communicate well, both in writing and orally, and to work independently and as part of a team.

The post will be based at the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences, located at St Thomas' Hospital. The post is funded by the British Heart Foundation and will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 16 months in the first instance.  This is a full-time post – 100% full-time equivalent 35 hours/week.

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 or be near completion of a PhD in cardiovascular science and/or biochemistry, molecular biology or biomedical sciences. 
2. Have proven expertise in working with primary cells; be able to perform routine molecular biology protocols, e.g., DNA isolation, site-directed mutagenesis, plasmid work, transfection, kinase activity assays, PCR, cell culturing and treatment, cell fractionation, immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation, flow cytometry, fluorescent microscopy, cell/protein-based assays, cell proliferation assays etc.  
3. Possess scientific integrity and understanding of the importance of study design, power calculations and statistical analysis. 
4. Possess a fundamental understanding of vascular function, redox and/or metabolic processes and how these can be monitored experimentally in vitro orin vivo. 
5. ​Motivation and working hard attitude, ability to integrate with colleagues, work independently, and as a part of a team and undertake share of group tasks. 
6. Proven ability to manage own research and administrative activities efficiently, prioritise and meet targets and deadlines.

​Desirable criteria

1. Have experience or expertise with analysing large data sets using software for omics analysis (e.g., RNA-seq, proteomics, metabolomics).
2. Hold a Home Office Personal Licence. Expertise/experience in rodent models of disease.
3. Have experience in contributing to publications/presentations.
4. Have experience in independently managing a discrete area of a research project.
5. Have experience in undergraduate research student supervision. 

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.

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.