Research Fellow in Computational Neuroscience

Applications are invited for a research fellow to join the Integrated Clinical-Computational Affective Research Unit, led by Dr Liam Mason (Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow) and Neuroscience and Mental Health Group (co-led by Prof Jon Roiser, Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health). The post is based in the Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology. This is a large and vibrant community where research and teaching activity aim to improve wellbeing through the application of psychological science to practice.

About the role

The role involves undertaking high quality research as part of an exciting new internationally funded research project investigating the neural and computational basis of anergia and effort hypersensitivity in depression. You will be responsible for: overseeing behavioural, ambulatory smartphone-based and neuroimaging assessments with clinical participants with current depression; conducting computational modelling and multi-level modelling analyses; working closely with the head of the lab and the other team members, and inputting on supervision and line management of current and future research assistants, PhD students and masters students.

The role offers an opportunity to conduct impactful, collaborative and rigorous research that can make a real difference to the lives of people with depression. The post holder will receive support and supervision from the study team, and input from other academics collaborating on this work. This is an excellent position for an early-career researcher as it provides: (1) opportunities for publication; (2) the chance to develop knowledge and skills in neuroimaging analysis; and (3) experience of working with digital mental health and smartphone-based assessment tools.

• The starting salary for this role is fixed at Grade 7, Spine Point 31 (£44,480, inclusive of London Allowance).
• This role is an open-ended contract with a funding duration of 12 months in the first instance, with the possibility of being extended up to an additional 3 years.
• An acceptable Enhanced DBS check is required to carry out parts of this role.
• Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B (salary £38,607 - £41,255 per annum) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD Thesis.
• This role meets the eligibility requirements for a skilled worker certificate of sponsorship or a global talent visa under UK Visas and Immigration legislation.

About you

We are looking for someone with excellent quantitative research skills, particularly in computational modelling, in the intersection of affective and reward processes. with recruiting clinical participants into longitudinal studies and in using functional MRI and scripting-based languages (e.g. Matlab, R, Python). You will need to hold a PhD in Neuroscience, Economics, Psychology, Decision Sciences or related discipline, ideally researching reward processes. The role involves co-ordinating a large study and liaising and assessing clinical participants, so the ideal candidate would have communication and organisational skills.

Further Details

The advert closes on 04 August 2025 at 23:59 GMT. Interview dates are scheduled for August 2025. A Job Description and Person Specification can be accessed by clicking ‘Apply’ to view the full UCL advert.

What we offer and our commitment to EDI

Please click ‘Apply’ to view the UCL advert which outlines the benefits, and our commitment to EDI.

Customer advert reference: B02-08916

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