Chair in Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine/ Centre Director UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial

Full time, tenured Professorial Appointment

Background:

Are you an experienced senior leader with the vision to drive groundbreaking research in a world leading environment?  Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) seek an exceptional global leader in neurosciences (clinical or non-clinical) to join the Department of Brain Sciences and be the next Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute Centre at Imperial.

With over 1 million people in the UK living with dementia and related neurodegenerative disorders we are witnessing devastating impact on individuals, their families, public services and so the UK economy. However, the next decade promises transformative breakthroughs as we enter a new era of predictive, preventative, and precision medicine for neurodegenerative conditions. The UK is well placed to play a leading role in this revolution due to its scientific strengths in the field, led by the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) working with world-class, university-based Centres.

Imperial, recently ranked 1^st in Europe and 2^nd in the world QS World University rankings 2025 and is world renowned for neuroscience research, ranking 1^st in the last Research Excellence Framework for psychology, psychiatry and neurosciences. Within this environment, you will lead a UK DRI Centre team of 11 Group Leaders and 2 emerging group leaders based in state-of-the art facilities at Imperial’s White City Campus; a thriving ecosystem where transdisciplinary research, industry partners and entrepreneurship coexist for maximum impact. Co-located within minutes of Hammersmith Hospital and a suite of clinical research facilities, research translation is enabled through the Imperial College NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), the largest BRC in the UK.

The UKDRI has Centres located at University College London, the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Edinburgh University, King’s College London and a second Centre at Imperial. These Centres have attracted some of the brightest minds in the field of neurodegeneration, giving access to the best infrastructure to understand, prevent and treat dementia.

What we offer:

For this exciting opportunity, we offer a permanent tenured professorial appointment at Imperial; the Centre Director element of the position is funded until April 2028 in the first instance with opportunity for renewal.

We also offer a major start-up package, including a substantial personal research budget, dedicated funding to support the Centre, and space in Imperial’s White City campus with its state-of-the-art molecular and cell biology facilities.

Applications are welcome from all and salary will be commensurate with achievements, qualifications and experience. A generous relocation package will be provided to support those moving to the London area.

Further information

The job description is currently with the relevant Royal Colleges for their review and approval.

Full information on duties, responsibilities and criteria for the post can be found in the attached Job Description.

Please see our Further Particulars for more information about Imperial College and the benefits available to staff.

In order to apply for the post, visit www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs and search by the job reference MED04694. Please apply online, including your current CV and a cover letter (maximum 5 pages) outlining your motivation for applying, your vision for the UK DRI at Imperial and your personal research proposal.

Informal inquiries about the post can be directed to Professor Graham Cooke, the Vice-Dean (research) for Faculty of Medicine, Email: g.cooke@imperial.ac.uk, Professor William Wisden, UK DRI Interim Centre Director, Email: w.wisden@imperial.ac.uk and Professor Siddharthan Chandran, UK DRI Director, Email: Siddharthan.Chandran@ed.ac.uk

For further information on the recruitment process please contact: Maria Monteiro, Senior Appointments Manager, email: m.monteiro@imperial.ac.uk Telephone: +44 (0)207 594 5498.

Closing date: 22 July 2024, 23:59 hours BST)

Clinical Academic appointments require checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service or DBS, (formerly the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)). As this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, at the appropriate level, will be required for the successful candidate.

Further information about the DBS disclosure process can be found on the Home Office website or by telephoning 03000 200 190. You may also wish to view the College’s DBS webpage for policy statements on the Recruitment and Employment of Ex-Offenders and the Secure Storage, Use, Retention & Disposal of Disclosures and Disclosure Information.

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/ 

We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex, or sexual orientation. We are an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Disability Confident Leader and a Stonewall Diversity Champion.