Research Assistant

A position is available for a Research Assistant to work in the Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute at Cardiff University. Based at the University’s flagship Hadyn Ellis Building, you will be part of a team of researchers at Cardiff, Bristol  and Exeter Universities working on a groundbreaking and innovative Welcome Trust funded grant entitled ‘The Sleep Detectives: Sleep stratification in young people at high risk of psychosis’

How can sleep measurements inform interventions for children at high risk of psychosis? Evidence links sleep to both cognitive function and psychosis risk. However, the details of when and how sleep impacts cognition and psychosis risk remain unclear. In this study, a multidisciplinary team spanning Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter will evaluate if sleep can be used to determine personalised care for children and young people at a genetically high risk of psychosis. To do this, you will collect longitudinal measures of sleep behaviour and neurophysiology (including wearable technology, such as EEG headbands and actiwatches, and app-based metrics), as well as cognitive and clinical assessments. You will work together with the children and their families to test and validate graded measures of sleep and cognition.

You will conduct psychiatric interviews, assess neurocognitive function and obtain blood and saliva samples from participants. You will be required to travel UK-wide (expenses will be provided) to assess patients in their own homes which will require overnight stays and work outside of normal office hours.

You should have a degree in Psychology or a related subject at 2:1 or higher. Experience of working with children/ adolescents who have a history of mental illness and/ or neurodevelopmental disorders is highly desirable. 

For informal enquiries please contact Professor Marianne Van Den Bree (vandenbreemb@cardiff.ac.uk) 

This post is full time (35 hours per week), available immediately from and is fixed term until 3rd September 2026.

The majority of roles at Cardiff University are currently operating under “blended working” arrangements, with staff having the flexibility to work partly from home and partly from the University campus depending on specific business requirements. Discussions around these arrangements can take place after the successful candidate has been appointed. 

Salary: £32,332 - £34,980 per annum (Grade 5)
Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances. 

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (incl bank holidays), local pension scheme, a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments within the pay scale, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter. 

Closing date: Tuesday, 25 June 2024

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Cardiff University is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions we will evaluate applicants on the quality of their research, not publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which the research is published. More information is available at:  Responsible research assessment - Research - Cardiff University

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