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Research Associate

Cardiff University - Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) - School of Psychology

Location: Cardiff
Salary: £41,064 to £46,049 per annum (Grade 6)
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract
Placed On: 10th December 2025
Closes: 23rd December 2025
Job Ref: 20804BR

The NaPS Lab in Cardiff is seeking a research associate exploring the use of Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR) in sleep to alleviate PTSD. This post relates to an extremely exciting 5-year research project in which we are developing novel treatments for depression and PTSD through the manipulation of memory in sleep. This post will focus on the triggering of negative memories in REM sleep in order to decouple the arousal and render them less upsetting. We expect to use EEG classifiers to index the reactivation elicited by TMR, and will also use both structural and functional MRI to examine the impacts of our manipulation. We hope to use wearable devices and perform some of this work at home, but some experiments will also be lab based (and require overnight working).

This project is funded by the Wellcome Trust on a multi-center grant lead Penny Lewis, who specializes in the study of what sleep does to our memories, and is based at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre CUBRIC. The post-holder will join a team of researchers including Depression researcher (and Consultant Psychiatrist) Neil Harrison, PTSD specialist (and Consultant Psychiatrist) Jon Bisson at the Welsh National Center for Mental Health (NCMH), and Tim Denison, who leads a team of research engineers in Oxford who are developing the wearable device which we will use in this project.

Cardiff University's Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) is one of the best equipped neuroscience institutes in Europe, housing 3 MRI scanners, including a 7T and a Connectom scanner, a MEG, EEG labs, a brain stimulation lab, and of course the state of the art sleep lab. The Welsh National Center for Mental Health is just next door. The Neuroscience and Psychology of Sleep (NaPS) group is housed within CUBRIC, and conducts world-leading research on the impacts of sleep on cognitive processes. 

This post is full-time (35 hours per week) fixed term for 33 months or until 31st May 2029 (which ever is sooner) available from the 1st March 2026.

Salary: £41,064 - £46,049 per annum (Grade 6). Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances.

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (incl. bank holidays), local pension scheme, a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments within the pay scale, and more. It's an exciting and vibrant place to work with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter. Business needs will require some degree of office-based working, but the balance of time can be spent in the office or remotely (subject to agreement with the line manager).

Closing Date: Tuesday, 23 December 2025

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Cardiff University is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions we will evaluate applicants on the quality of their research, not publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which the research is published. More information is available at: 
Responsible research assessment - Research - Cardiff University

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