Research Associate in Women' and Children's Health

About Us

The School of Life Course & Population Sciences is one of six Schools that make up the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King's College London. The School unites over 400 experts in women and children's health, nutritional sciences, population health and the molecular genetics of human disease. Our research links the causes of common health problems to life's landmark stages, treating life, disease and healthcare as a continuum. We are interdisciplinary by nature and this innovative approach works: 91 per cent of our research submitted to the Subjects Allied to Medicine (Pharmacy, Nutritional Sciences and Women's Health cluster) for REF was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We use this expertise to teach the next generation of health professionals and research scientists. Based across King's Denmark Hill, Guy's, St Thomas' and Waterloo campuses, our academic programme of teaching, research and clinical practice is embedded across five Departments.

About the role

We are looking for a Research Associate to join Professor Rachel Tribe's Preterm Birth research group in the Department of Women and Children's Health at St Thomas' Campus, King's College London. This project is in collaboration with researchers based at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

This post will be focused on investigating a novel cell-based treatment strategy for preterm birth. We are looking for someone that has a background in animal research. The postholder will be involved in testing this treatment in different murine models of preterm birth. You will be expected to engage in lab activities (lab meetings, general lab housekeeping), conduct and analyse experiments, keep up to date with scientific literature in the field, lead your project, write manuscripts, present at national and international conferences and collaborate with others. You will also be expected to help co-supervise students. We are looking for someone that can be independent as well as engaged in our group and participate in our discussions.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/10/2027.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. BSc and PhD in relevant subjects *
2. Evidence of continuing professional development
3. Proven interest in Women's Health/Pregnancy research
4. Previous experience of working with preclinical animal models
5. Proven experience of immunology research
6. Experience of optimising research methods/protocols
7. Capability to plan and execute experimental work on own initiative and meet firm deadlines
8. Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, actively addressing areas of potential bias

Desirable criteria

1. Proven experience of immunology research
2. An understanding of preterm birth research
3. Holds a current Home office personal licence
4. Experience in using statistical tools for bioinformatic analyses

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click "Apply Now". This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.