Research Assistant

About us

University College London ranked 2nd in overall Research Power in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (Oxford 1st,Cambridge 3rd). It maintained its top position in the UK for research power in the ‘medicine, health and life sciences’ panel, including psychology, psychiatry and neurosciences. Within UCL, we are based at the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (PALS), which has ranked 2nd worldwide for Psychology in the latest Times Higher Education rankings by subject.

About the role

Applications are invited for a research assistant position in the MetaLab at University College London, funded by UKRI Frontier Research (ERC Consolidator) Award “ConsciousComputation”. The focus of the grant is to develop a detailed computational account of conscious awareness, and to pursue hypothesis-driven tests of the model architecture using a combination of psychophysics, metacognitive measures and state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques (including MEG and 7T fMRI). The post holder will assist with all aspects of conducting high quality research combining novel behavioural and neuroimaging experiments on human participants with theoretical and computational modeling. The role will involve working closely with postdoctoral research associates and other team members to collect, curate and analyse human subjects data, and ensure the efficient running of all aspects of the project.

Further information about the MetaLab is available at http://metacoglab.org/ The expected start date is March 2025. The post is funded for 12 months, in the first instance and is offered at a salary of £38,607- 41,255 (including London Allowance).

About you

Applicants must hold a First class honours degree and/or Masters in experimental psychology, neuroscience, engineering or computer science. We are seeking applicants with proficiency and prior experience with programming and data analysis in MATLAB, with the enthusiasm and aptitude for developing technical skills in other programming languages (e.g. R, Python, java script) as required. A strong interest in the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of consciousness science is essential.

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.

Customer advert reference: B02-08412

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