Research Fellow

About us

This is an exciting opportunity to join an international team of researchers on an ERC UK Horizon Europe Guarantee-funded project that will explore how natural selection shapes the evolution of memory, led by Professor Elli Leadbeater.

The research fellow will primarily be based at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus but will also be part of the People and Nature Lab on the new UCL East campus. The People and Nature Lab is a collaborative group of researchers addressing the intersection between biodiversity, technology, the built environment and society to create new ways for societies and nature to sustainably coexist.

About the role

The main purpose of this position is to lead an axis of the research project that involves experimental evolution of memory in Drosophila models. Your role will be to design, set up and run experimental evolution experiments involving behavioural assays and fitness assays. You will also perform pilot experiments with mutant lines. You will have responsibility for managing all aspects of the fly-based experimental work, working closely with a dedicated project technician, and reporting directly to the project’s Principle Investigator Professor Elli Leadbeater. You will work closely with other researchers on the same grant who are working with bumblebee models, with other research groups working with Drosophila at UCL, and with our collaborator Dr Hrvoje Augustin at Royal Holloway University of London.

This role is an open-ended contract funded for three years from the start date, in the first instance.

Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD Thesis.

Interviews will take place in late November 2024. The start date is flexible but should not be after June 2024.

Job Ref: B02-07736

Closing Date: 30/10/2024 – 23:59 (UK time)

A job description and person specification can be accessed via the “apply” button.

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Professor Elli Leadbeater. If you need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online or have any queries about the application process, please contact the Biosciences staffing team.

About you

The successful candidate must hold or be about to submit a PhD degree in a relevant area, and have significant experience in the field of evolutionary ecology, behavioural ecology or behavioural neuroscience. Experience of empirical lab-based work with captive insects is essential, and previous experience with Drosophila and/or with experimental evolution protocols would be a significant advantage. A good knowledge of the relevant literature on animal cognition is desirable, as is proficiency in the application of appropriate ecological statistics (e.g. in R).

The project involves a small component of field-based sampling in the UK, and so a driving license is desirable, but we will consider applicants without.

Please make sure to refer to the Person Specification to find out more about all the required knowledge and skills.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/

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