Postdoctoral Research Fellow

The Opportunity:

We seek a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on the new UKRI Hub for Metabolic Psychiatry (PI Professor Daniel Smith). The Hub for Metabolic Psychiatry is led by the University of Edinburgh and is part of a wider UKRI Mental Health Platform comprising five Hubs from across the UK. Our Hub is focused on the interface between metabolism and severe mental illness.

The successful applicant will be the main researcher for Workstream Three ('Metabolic Biomarkers of Mental Illness'). They will conduct a detailed prospective study of patients with mental illness to assess how changes in metabolic tests and changes in sleep relate to clinical outcomes. They will assist in the recruitment and assessment of patient volunteers with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression, as well as healthy controls. This will include the collection of data on mental health symptoms, sleep and metabolic tests. They will also be involved in the analysis of data, drafting publications and taking part in knowledge exchange and dissemination activities. This post is available for five years duration.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week) however, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

Your skills and attributes for success: 

• Expertise in the assessment of mental health symptoms.
• Expertise in the use of analytical techniques for data on mental health.
• Experience of research on the comorbidity of physical and mental health.
• Experience of maintaining a research database.
• Experience in writing and publishing research papers in high-quality journals.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills.

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