Research Fellow - Institute of Healthy Ageing

About us

The Division of Biosciences at UCL is one of the world's foremost centres for research and teaching in the biological sciences.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Institute of Healthy Ageing as part of Dr. John Labbadia’s research group. You will work within a highly collaborative, innovative and passionate team of postdocs and PhD students, with a focus on understanding the relationship between protein quality control, stress response pathways and ageing. In addition, this project will be conducted in close collaboration with Professor David Gems.

About the role

You will be part of the Institute of Healthy Ageing, a world-leading collection of researchers working together to understand the biology of ageing and age-related disease, situated in the university district of the vibrant, multicultural city of London. In this role, you will work to understand why protein homeostasis declines with age, which is a major driver of late life disease (including dementia). Your research will investigate the evolutionary basis of the programmed repression of the Heat Shock Response in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. This work aims to redefine our understanding of the relationship between reproduction, proteome integrity and long-term tissue health, and how it is governed by action of the wild-type genome, as described by the evolutionary theory of ageing.

The position will be funded for 34 months in the first instance, with appointment at UCL Grade 7, spinal point 32 (£45,622 per annum inclusive of London Allowance). This is subject to 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.

Interview dates have not currently been set, but we expect interviews to take place in June 2025.

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

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Dr. John Labbadia. 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 HR Administrator stating the advert reference number in the subject line.

About you

You will be responsible for planning and performing experiments, training PhD and MSci/MRes students, plotting and analysing data, presenting research findings, maintaining a functional lab environment and writing research papers. You must have a PhD in a related discipline and should be hard-working, enthusiastic, intelligent, considerate and collaborative. It would be helpful to have a strong knowledge of the biology of ageing, with a focus on evolutionary theories and molecular biology (though this is not essential). Furthermore, you should be proficient in molecular biology techniques (cloning, RT-qPCR, western blotting, immunoprecipitation) and capable of independently driving a research project. Experience of working with C. elegans is highly desirable but not essential.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits.

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/

Customer advert reference: B02-08647

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