Research Associate

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to September 2026 

We welcome applications for a Research Associate in the Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH). The CHBH is a friendly, productive, and supportive environment where all colleagues can thrive and reach their goals.

The role is to provide Research Assistant services to Dr Jo Cutler for her projects on social decision-making and information seeking. Tasks include helping with participant recruitment and testing, collecting and analysing neuroimaging data, finance administration, and contributing to the writing of manuscripts for publication. There may also be opportunities to attend conferences. The successful applicant will also work closely with the Social Decision Neuroscience Lab (www.sdn-lab.org) lead by Professor Patricia Lockwood and the Motivation & Social Neuroscience Lab (www.msn-lab.com) lead by Professor Matthew Apps, including attending joint lab meetings. The position is for a minimum of 1 year with the possibility of extension, as part of a Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellowship.

Role Summary

• Participant recruitment and testing 
• Assistance with collecting neuroimaging data (fMRI and MEG)
• Administrative duties including assisting with finance and expenses, ethical approval, website development and maintenance, and lab organisation 
• Programming of experimental tasks and basic data analysis in R, Python, Matlab or similar
• Contributing to manuscripts for publication
• Assisting other colleagues in their research activities

Main Duties

• Collect research data including behavioural experiments and neuroimaging (fMRI and MEG)
• Analyse research data as directed
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Develop or adapt techniques, models and methods
• Provide guidance as required to support staff and any students who may be assisting with research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Carry out administrative tasks related directly to the delivery of the research
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture

Person Specification

• A BA or BSc undergraduate degree in psychology, neuroscience, computer science or a related field at a minimum of a high 2.1
• Ideally working towards or completed an MSc in psychology, neuroscience, computer science or a related field 
• Experience in the recruitment and testing of participants
• Experience with programming and statistics (Matlab, R or Python)
• Experience with Microsoft Office
• Experience with collecting neuroimaging data is desirable
• Experience or familiarity with research on social decision making, information seeking, or related areas
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly
• Resourcefulness and organisational skills to act on own initiative
• Ability to work independently

Informal enquiries Dr Jo Cutler, email: j.l.cutler@bham.ac.uk

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

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We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

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