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. 

The School hosts the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence at King's, which brings together a unique range of internationally recognised scientists and clinicians from across the School and King’s College London.

More information: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/scmms 

About The Role

This BHF-funded position is for a talented and enthusiastic postdoctoral scientist to work on “Investigating novel roles of nesprin and the LINC complex in cardiomyocyte mechanotransduction”. The project will involve the use of wide range of experimental techniques including in vivo physiology, molecular biology, biochemistry and histology. We therefore seek to appoint an individual with a strong background in mouse model of cardiac and skeletal muscle disease as well as good experience of cell/molecular biology. Experience in surgery and in vivo phenotyping (e.g. high resolution echocardiography) is highly desirable. The postholder will be part of a vibrant multi-disciplinary research group working on several different aspects of cardiovascular pathophysiology, within the King’s BHF Centre of Research Excellence which has state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. 

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 15 months from start of contract.

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 in a relevant biological sciences project
2. Strong background in experimental cardiovascular mouse models
3. Home Office Personal Licence or equivalent
4. Experience of working with in-vivo models of disease or gene-modification
5. Broad cell and molecular biological techniques (e.g. immunoblotting, qPCR, cell culture, immunofluorescence)
6. Good written presentation skills, communication skills (written & verbal), and good IT skills
7. Successful completion of research projects (published papers in high Impact Factor journals)
8. Self-motivated, able to work independently, as well as willing and able to work as part of a team
9. Commitment to continuing personal and professional development
10. Able to carry out know/learnt techniques unsupervised, and flexible/able to change in current professional context
11. Able to plan and prioritise workload and keep clear and well-organised laboratory notes and records

Desirable criteria

1. Background in nuclear envelope biology
2. Experience in in vivo cardiovascular physiology (e.g. echo)
3. Experience in gene-modified models including breeding strategy and genotyping
4. Experience in Histology, immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, GST pulldown and immunoprecipitation, PLA.

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.

Interviews are due to be held around mid to late August 2026.