Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Wellcome Trust)

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Department of Psychology
Location:  Egham
Salary:  £39,233 to £46,397 per annum - including London Allowance
Post Type:  Full Time
Closing Date:  23.59 hours GMT on Thursday 29 February 2024
Reference:  0224-053

Full-Time, Fixed-Term (12 months with the possibility of extension)

Applications are invited for the post of Wellcome Trust funded Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology. Available as soon as possible.

The position is formally within the SoCCR Lab (Social Computation and Cognitive Representation Lab) directed by Dr. Joseph M Barnby, which develops and tests computational and formal theories of social interaction in health and disorder. The fellow will also be working closely with the three Co-Is: Drs Alex Pike and Catia Oliveira (University of York) and Dr Lei Zhang (University of Birmingham). 

Dr Barnby’s group currently consists of two PhD students and two DClinPsy students.  The post holder will be a member of this lab with responsibility for the provision of computational support for a Wellcome Trust-funded project, “Hypatia: Health Modelling Made Simple”. The position offers an exciting opportunity to develop and use state-of-the-art methods to build a free browser-based solution to allow simulation and fitting of common computational models, with the final milestone of 12 months to have a working beta version. The role will primarily involve software engineering/programming the Hypatia site, retaining a core knowledge of computational modelling as it relates to health care, neuroscience, and psychology, and liaising with project consultants to develop the UX/UI, backend support, and aesthetics of the platform. There is significant opportunity for skill development, including gaining experience of industry liaison, translational neuroscience, and computational modelling expertise.

The project team will consist of a dedicated postdoctoral researcher and research assistant. The team will also present to and be guided by an advisory board, which includes Prof. Peter Dayan (Tuebingen), Dr Emma Černis (University of Birmingham), Dr Rick Adams (UCL), Prof Eric-Jan Wagenmakers (Amsterdam; JASP team), and Dr Jenny Murphy (Royal Holloway).

The post holder would join a thriving research-intensive department (ranked 3rd in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience in REF2021, source: Times Higher Education). Royal Holloway has a dedicated computer cluster and a strong computational community. 

This is a full-time post, available as soon as possible for a fixed term of 12 months, with the possibility of extension following a successful final milestone. 

The physical post is based in Egham, Surrey where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London. We are happy to consider requests for flexible or remote working options.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact the PI Dr. Joseph M Barnby on [email protected]

For queries on the application process the Human Resources Department can be contacted by email at: [email protected]  

Please quote the reference: 0224-053

Closing Date:   23:59, 29 February 2024

Interview Date: To be confirmed

The university has adopted hybrid working for some roles therefore some remote working may be possible for this role.

Royal Holloway is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and encourages applications from all people regardless of age, disability, gender, marital status, parental status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or trans status or history. More information on our structures and initiatives around EDI, including information on staff diversity networks, can be found on our Equality and Diversity Intranet page .