Regius Professor Academic Psychiatry

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London is a world leading mental health and neuroscience academic enterprise. Our research, education and training have impact locally, nationally, and globally, and work across the IoPPN continues to fundamentally change and shape the understanding of mental illness and neurological disorders, leading to novel therapies and approaches to health and wellbeing. Our founding goals include the tripartite mission of research, education, and clinical care.

With the advantage of being closely aligned with the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (alongside proximity our other partner NHS Trusts), the IoPPN and Maudsley provide one of the most prestigious trainings for psychiatrists and allied mental health professionals worldwide. Our unique collaborations, which includes the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at the Maudsley, provides a unique environment to translate insights from discovery science to clinical care. 

Comprised of three schools, and with over 1000 academic and research staff, including more than 4000 under and post-graduate students, the IoPPN includes the largest centre for mental health research and education in Europe. Our vibrant community of academics work together to translate insights from discovery science (including neuroscience, genomics, social science, and psychology) to interventions to improve patient care and quality of life. Research sits at the heart of our ability to achieve our goals and we are proud to be recognised for our 100% world leading research environment and research impact (REF 2021).

In 2013, marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, King’s College London was awarded the first and only Regius Professor in the field of Psychiatry. The university is uniquely positioned to bestow this title to an esteemed professor of psychiatry, who demonstrates outstanding research and clinical practice within the field. In 2013, the university bestowed the title to Professor Sir Simon Wessely FRS, who has held it for over ten years. We are now looking to present the Regius Professorship to another thought leader in the field. The successful candidate will be a psychiatrist, expected to hold an honorary contract with our partner NHS trust, who will bring ambassadorial qualities, demonstrate impact through their work, be collegiate, progressive, and interdisciplinary by nature. A true collaborator, with a vision for what the future for mental health research and psychiatry should look like is essential.

The successful candidate will bring personal research leadership and will have the ability to build and grow world-class research teams that work synergistically with other academic disciplines as well as clinicians. A core responsibility of the role is to nurture a vision for how combined clinical and research capabilities can benefit local, national, and international populations. We are looking for an excellent communicator with interests in impactful research and providing research leadership in influencing policy, and in delivering valuable and measurable benefits for research and subsequently, patient care.

To further enable the strategic effectiveness of the role of Regius Professor, (although not essential) there will also be the opportunity for the appointee to apply for the Head of School of the Academic Psychiatry within the IoPPN later in the year. It is a significant faculty leadership role integral to the onward development of a range of disciplines and activities. The Head of the School of Academic Psychiatry has oversight of five departments and several broad ranging, significant initiatives. Disciplinary oversight includes addictions, child and adolescent psychiatry, psychosis studies, psychological medicine, and neurodevelopmental sciences.

For further information about the role please visit the job description and to apply for this role, please go to the King’s College London Job Opportunities page and submit the specified documentation. Informal enquiries may be made to the King’s Search Team; please contact either Sarah Fraser or Robyn Eade at kings-search@kcl.ac.uk.

The advert will close on Sunday 7^th July 2024 at 23.59 hrs. The selection process will include a presentation and panel interview. Interviews and assessments will be held from July to September.  

King’s is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and through this appointment it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities. We particularly encourage applications from women, people from black and minority ethnic communities, the LGBTQ+ community and from disabled people.