Research Fellow

About us

The MetaLab at University College London is a cognitive neuroscience group based at the Department of Experimental Psychology and the Max Planck Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research (https://metacoglab.org).

About the role

This post is funded by a UKRI Frontier Research (ERC Consolidator) Award entitled “Computational components of conscious awareness” held by Prof. Stephen Fleming. The focus of the project is on developing computational models of human consciousness awareness, focusing on new models grounded in probabilistic models of brain function. To test these models the project will combine psychophysics, metacognitive measures, computational simulations and recent advances in human neuroimaging (including 7 Tesla fMRI and optically-pumped MEG) with theoretical and philosophical studies. This research builds on existing momentum within the group that is actively developing the higher-order state space model of consciousness but can also be extended in novel directions. A parallel and intersecting line of research in the lab focuses on probing signatures of metacognition and consciousness in artificial systems. The post-holder will be a senior member of Professor Fleming’s team, and will gain substantial experience and training by working on cutting-edge human cognitive computational neuroscience.

The post is funded for two years in the first instance.

The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible. 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.

About you

The post holder will have PhD in computational/cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, experimental psychology or related discipline. They will have the ability to undertake high quality research combining novel behavioural and neuroimaging experiments on human participants in conjunction with theoretical modeling using Bayesian and probabilistic programming approaches.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

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.

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