Research Associate in Women & 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.

The Department of Women and Children's Health is a lively and supportive environment known for its research from discovery science to implementation and policy, and its commitment to interdisciplinary work. Researchers benefit from regular seminars and broader collaborations across the broader School of Life Course and Population Sciences, making it an ideal setting for those looking to engage more broadly in population health research.

About the role

We are seeking an enthusiastic Research Associate to work closely with Professor Sophie Moore on a Wellcome Trust funded clinical trial in The Gambia (the INDiGO trial). INDiGO randomises pregnant women and their infants to micronutrient interventions from mid-pregnancy through to six-months post-partum. The primary outcome of the trial is infant neurocognitive development, using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and eye tracking technologies, alongside the collection of neurobehavioural data. The trial collects repeated measures across infancy, culminating in a large volume of complex data. We seek an individual with specific skills and experience in the collection, processing and analysis of complex data to help support this trial.

This post provides an exciting opportunity to engage in a large collaborative research project, working with nutrition scientists, trial statisticians, infant developmental psychologists, biomedical engineers, policy makers as well as working closely with a large, multidisciplinary field team based in The Gambia. Furthermore, this post will provide the opportunity for the individual to develop their own embedded research questions, within the framework of the larger trial. Opportunities for training and development (e.g. junior Fellowship applications) will be encouraged and supported.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/08/2027.

About You

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

Essential criteria

• PhD qualification in relevant subject area *
• Experience in applied and/or clinical research, preferably in global health settings
• Formal qualification or equivalent experience in infant neurodevelopment
• Experience in the implementation of infant neurodevelopmental assessments
• Excellent quantitative / data analysis skills
• Strong understanding of design, conduct and analysis of epidemiological and clinical studies
• Knowledge and practical experience in the use of statistical packages such as Stata, R, Python
• Track record in research outputs, including publications and research dissemination

* 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.

Desirable criteria

• Experience working with fNIRS or other neuroimaging data
• Experience in developing / working with analytical pipelines for complex data, ideally neuroimaging data
• Knowledge of Good Clinical Practice, as it relates to research trials
• Experience of working in a collaborative team, across multiple sites
• Experience of research supervision

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.

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.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

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.