Research Assistant or Research Fellow

About us

The postholder will join the N-CoDe Lab (Neuroscience of Communication Development Lab), which focuses on cognitive and neural mechanisms in developmental disorders affecting communication. They will be a part a vibrant research community offering opportunities for skill development and collaborations.

About the role

We wish to appoint a research assistant or research fellow who will provide research support for the MRC-funded project “Reward and motivation mechanisms supporting language learning: a cross-syndrome investigation of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and autism”, collaborating with other members of the team to deliver research objectives. Work will include designing and programming experiments focusing on language learning and reward, collecting behavioural and MRI data from children (including neurodivergent children), data analysis, and writing up experimental results. If a candidate is appointed at research fellow level, we would expect they would take on day-to-day project management and analysis.

Note that this role is offered for 12 months in the first instance. The successful candidate will need to start the role on 1st June 2025.

If you meet the requirements for the Research Assistant role the Grade 6B salary range will be: £38,607 - £41,255.

If you meet the requirements for the Research Fellow role the Grade 7 salary range will be: £43,374 - £45,622.

Please see attached the job descriptions and Person Specifications for the Research Fellow and Research Assistant role. The successful candidate will be appointment to one of these roles depending on whether they meet the specific criteria.

Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Research Assistant Grade 6B salary with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis. Please see the ‘UCL Non-clinical grade structure with spinal point's for the current year here.

A DBS clearance is required for this position.

Applications should include a covering letter and CV.

Interviews will take place week commencing 10th March 2025.

About you

The successful candidate will have an undergraduate degree in Psychology or a relevant discipline. They will have a strong interest in language learning and neurodevelopmental disorders such as DLD. They will have some experience of the research process including participant recruitment, experimental design, data collection and handling of MRI/ neuroimaging data, analysis and presentation of results. Research experience with children (especially neurodivergent children) is desirable.

Appointment at Research Fellow level will be contingent on the candidate having submitted their PhD, and relevant research experience.

Customer advert reference: B02-08385

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