Research Career Development Fellowships

About us

Research Career Development Fellowships in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL: Expression of Interest for 2024

DEADLINE: The next deadline is 31st January 2025, 5 pm.

The Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB) at University College London (UCL) invites Expressions of Interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for external fellowships to establish an independent research group via a tenure-track like process.

UCL is ranked 6^th in Biological Sciences in the 2024 QS World University Rankings. CDB, which is embedded in the Division of Biosciences, offers an interactive and rich research environment with access to cutting-edge facilities (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/science-technology-platforms/). The diverse research areas in CDB include animal development, stem cell biology, functional and evolutionary morphology, neuroscience, mitochondrial biology and cell signalling. The Department is home to several centres including the UCL Centre for Integrative Anatomy and the UCL Consortium for Mitochondrial Research. Close links also exist to the Francis Crick Institute, the Natural History Museum and the Sainsbury-Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour.

External research fellowships available for sponsorship from CDB include Wellcome Trust Career Development Award, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, MRC Career Development Award, CRUK Career Development Fellowship, ERC Starting Grant, Royal Society URF, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin, and EPSRC Open Fellowship.

About the role

We are looking for outstanding candidates who address fundamental cell and developmental biology questions using innovative approaches and technologies. Applicants may work in any area of Cell or Developmental Biology. We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate synergy with research carried out in our Center for Engineering Life (CEL), work in the fields of synthetic developmental biology or computational cell biology or use single-cell approaches. The ability to teach cell biology and/or anatomy would be considered an advantage.

Further information and applying

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Roberto Mayor, Fellowship Coordinator of CDB (r.mayor@ucl.ac.uk )

To apply, please email the following as one pdf document to michael.wright@ucl.ac.uk :

1) a full CV with names of referees;

2) a one page outline of your fellowship application/proposal;

3) and a cover letter explaining how your proposal is suitable for the fellowship scheme(s) you are interested in, a timeline for application(s), and how you see this research programme fitting into CDB.

About you

Successful candidates will be of the highest calibre, can demonstrate an exceptional track record in their career stage and have the potential to submit competitive fellowship applications. Shortlisted candidates will give a departmental seminar and meet with faculty members. This may be face-to-face or via an online platform. Selected candidates will be provided with support for their fellowship applications including mock interviews. Candidates that are successful in securing a fellowship are provided with post-award support including membership of the Biosciences Fellowship Network, assignment of a mentor, access to additional support for research and further funding, opportunities to attract PhD students through PhD programs, and additional funding support beyond the end of the fellowship. Fellows will be assessed for a permanent position within the department one year before the end of their fellowship.

What we offer

Candidates should check eligibility for individual fellowships schemes. A PhD is required plus normally one or two postdoctoral positions. You will be required to provide evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK before commencing any fellowship offered. We strongly encourage applications from women, disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as part of our ongoing commitment to gender equality, diversity and inclusion­.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality.

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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