Research Fellow

About us

UCL situated at the heart of London is a top-ranked university in the UK for research in psychology and neuroscience. The post will be based in the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN), within the Faculty of Brain Sciences. ICN is an inter-disciplinary research institute with over 120 staff, bringing together different disciplines with common interests in the human mind and brain, in both health and disease. Prof Rick Adams is a leader in the field of Computational Psychiatry – the application of computational methods to psychiatric neuroscience. UCL is a world-leader in the fusion of neuroscience and AI research, exemplified by its NeuroAI initiative.

About the role

This postdoctoral position is part of a Wellcome Mental Health Award project: ‘Testing a computational model of the role of cortical circuits in auditory hallucinations in people with psychosis’. The project will investigate how properties of cortical circuits can cause hallucinations and associated phenomena. It is partly based on Prof Adams’ recent finding (Adams et al, 2022, Biol Psych) that auditory hallucinations in people with schizophrenia diagnoses were associated with disinhibition of auditory cortex. This job involves i) biophysical modelling of mouse LFP and human (including schizophrenia patient) EEG data from auditory cortex, and ii) simulation of hallucinations using a spiking neural network model.

About you

The candidate needs a relevant PhD, experience with neural networks/computational modelling and programming, and an excellent research track record. Interest in mental health science is preferable.

This role meets the requirements for a Skilled Worker certificate of sponsorship or Global Talent visa under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. UCL welcomes applications from international applicants who require a visa.

What we offer

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

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.

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