Research Fellow: Protecting the brain through the senses Full-time

Research Fellow: Protecting the Brain Through the Senses

Thanks to a generous donation from The Karlsson Játiva Charitable Foundation, we are pleased to announce the KJCF Quest Fellowships in Brain Health and Multimorbidity: Protecting the Brain Through the Senses.

The KJCF Quest Fellowships in Brain Health and Multimorbidity support talented researchers who show strong potential to conduct high-impact research.

The role will sit in the Faculty of Brain Sciences. UCL's Faculty of Brain Sciences is a global leader in research and education into the mind and brain, and home to some of the most influential and creative academics in the field. UCL is ranked first for research power in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience by the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).

About the Role

The UCL-led Lancet commission identified 14 potentially modifiable health and lifestyle factors that, if eliminated, might prevent dementia by as much as 45%. Two of these are directly related to the breakdown of sensory systems: hearing loss and vision loss. Hearing loss is a preventable mid-life risk factor that carries a particularly heavy weighting: it accounts for at least 7% of risk, higher than the combined risks of vision (2%), smoking (2%), diabetes (2%), obesity (1%) and excessive alcohol (1%).

During the tenure of the award, the fellow will be supported to obtain a competitive external fellowship or major personal award that will allow them to establish their independent research career.

We are able to appoint a candidate to this role at a maximum starting Grade 7.35 (49,943 per annum), together with research expenses for four years. Part time appointments at 0.8FTE will be considered, with the fellowship duration extended accordingly.

About You

This fellowship is aimed at outstanding early career researchers with an exceptional research track record for their career stage but not yet established an independent career or research group. Funded as a non-clinical fellowship, the post is open to applicants from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds working across the full range of disciplines in life and medical sciences, including clinical, applied and population health sciences. The appointee should hold a PhD and have relevant experience in a relevant discipline. We place strong emphasis on supporting career development and encouraging independence.

The appointee will have an ambitious research vision related to understanding and leveraging the power of sensory systems to diagnose, track, treat and prevent neurodegenerative and mental health disorders.

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 UCL Rewards 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; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.