Research Associate (Imaging / Cognitive Neuroscience)

12550BR

School of Psychology

Research

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Research Associate (imaging / cognitive neuroscience)

We are seeking an enthusiastic, productive and skilled early-career scientist for a postdoctoral research position linked to a recently awarded BBSRC grant held jointly across Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) and Royal Holloway, University of London. This exciting project will apply state-of-the-art 7-Tesla MRI and high-gradient diffusion MRI to examine the functional neuroanatomy and connectivity of the human subiculum and broader hippocampal network. The studies will focus primarily on the fine-grained mapping of hippocampal network connectivity, as well as developing novel naturalistic cognitive paradigms to examine how the subiculum constructs representations of scenes and events.

The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary research team across Cardiff and Royal Holloway and will be expected to work closely with a second postdoctoral research associate who has been appointed to work at Royal Holloway. Work will include conceptualisation, implementation, design/analysis and dissemination of multimodal neuroimaging studies, as well as other activities linked to the grant (e.g., arranging regular online meetings, public engagement, supporting early-career researchers/students). The post-holder will also be expected to spend time at the partner institution when required.  In line with our commitment to open science, they will be expected to implement reliable, reproducible, and efficient approaches to data management, thus ensuring the long-term value of these data for the wider neuroimaging community. There will also be the opportunity to analyse existing in-house and publicly available multimodal imaging datasets across human and nonhuman primates (structural/diffusion MRI, 3T/7T resting and task-fMRI). The research associate will be expected to provide mentorship and support to junior researchers and students in the team on imaging data analyses.

Successful applicants will have a Ph.D. in cognitive/imaging neuroscience, experimental psychology, or related field (e.g., computational neuroscience or computer science). Strong skills in advanced statistical methods (e.g., MVPA, intersubject correlation analysis and/or network analyses) is essential. A primary interest in the neuroscience of memory and spatial navigation and/or the analysis of existing large-sample datasets is desirable.

This full-time position is available to start as soon as possible. This is a fixed-term post until 31 March 2024.

Informal enquiries may be made to Prof, Andrew Lawrence ([email protected]) or Dr Carl Hodgetts ([email protected]) and more information about the project can be found here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FV010549%2F1.

You can visit the websites of Prof Andrew Lawrence (co-PI), Dr Jiaxiang Zhang, Prof Kim Graham, and Prof John Aggleton to find out more about the work of the Cardiff co-investigators and to find out more about the Dr Carl Hodgetts’ Connected Memory Lab at Royal Holloway, please visit www.connectedmemorylab.com.

Facilities
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) houses a unique combination of state-of-the-art facilities and world-leading expertise, with 4 human MRI systems (2 x Siemens Prisma, 1 x Siemens Connectom, 1 x Siemens 7T), MEG, EEG, TMS, tDCS, clinical research units and testing labs. Further details of CUBRIC can be found on our webpage (http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/cubric).

Salary: £34,304 - £40,927 per annum (Grade 6). 

Date advert posted: Wednesday, 26 January 2022

Closing Date: Friday, 4 February 2022

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

“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: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/research/our-research-environment/integrity-and-ethics/responsible-research-assessment”

Job Description

Main function

The post-holder will advance a cognitive neuroscience research programme aligned to a newly awarded BBSRC grant on the role of the subiculum in scene and event cognition, held jointly across Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) and Royal Holloway, University of London . Working with a second postdoctoral research associate, the post-holder will be responsible for the conceptualisation, design and/or analysis, curation, and dissemination of multimodal neuroimaging studies examining hippocampal networks and their role in scene processing and event memory.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
Research

• To contribute to multimodal neuroimaging investigations of scene processing and event memory using both new and existing datasets. This will involve contributions to conceptualisation, design/analysis, curation, and reporting of neuroimaging studies involving structural (ultra-high resolution diffusion imaging) and/or 3T and 7T functional MRI (using naturalistic cognitive probes of scene and event cognition).

• To develop and maintain reliable and reproducible analysis pipelines for multi-modal brain imaging data, sharing these effectively across sites to advance research across the team as well as for open science requests as required
• To work jointly with the PIs and broader cross-institutional research team to prepare research publications, undertake presentations at national and international conferences, and provide other summaries of the research undertaken (e.g., at regular lab meetings)
• To work in close collaboration with other members of the research team, particularly colleagues at the partner institution, Royal Holloway.
• To perform administrative tasks associated with the research project, including contributing and organising project meetings, working collaboratively with lab managers, maintaining webpages and databases, and developing procedures required to ensure optimal lab practice
• To contribute to related on-going and future projects run by the PIs and the research team.
• To support the development and maintenance of a new large-scale, open-source 7T imaging database
• To provide training and support on data analyses to other researchers and students at CUBRIC and Royal Holloway.
• To contribute to the supervision of students, at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in methods and applications of cognitive neuroscience, including delivering training in imaging methods.
• To help develop research objectives and proposals for collaborative research and funding applications.
• To participate in research activities both at both Cardiff University and Royal Holloway.

Other
• To help support our engagement with industrial, media, and public sector organisations, professional institutions, other academic institutions, nationally and internationally to raise awareness of research at the school.
• To undergo personal and professional development that is appropriate to and which will enhance performance.
• Any other duties not included above, but consistent with the role in support of the overall activities of the research team and the School.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education
1. A PhD degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., imaging neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, computer science or engineering/physics).

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
2. Experience of analysing brain imaging data in one or more modalities (e.g. functional MRI, diffusion MRI and/or MEG).
3. Strong programming skills in Matlab, Python and/or R.
4. Experience with Unix/Linux environment for data analysis, such as bash scripting and parallel computing on high-performance clusters.
5. Experience in advanced statistical methods in neuroimaging (e.g., multivariate analyses, network analyses, intersubject correlation analysis and/or tractometry).
6. Knowledge of research in the specialist field of human brain imaging, for example, human memory, scene processing and/or other areas of relevance to the successful delivery of the programme.
7. Experience of developing and maintaining imaging analysis pipelines and/or data repositories.
8. Experience designing experimental paradigms to assess spatial memory and perception.

Communication and Team Working
9. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, evidenced by publications and conference presentations
10. Strong interpersonal skills, including a proven ability to work cooperatively within a team of researchers and students across institutions nationally and/or internationally.

Desirable Criteria

1. Experience with 7T MRI.
2. Strong neuroanatomical knowledge, particularly around hippocampal-circuitry and hippocampal subfield segmentation
3. Experience of analysing large-scale imaging datasets
4. Knowledge of software development cycles and best programming practices, including coding standards, version control administration, debug, and code sharing.
5. Commitment to open science.

Additional Information

Evidencing Criteria - It is School of Psychology’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement. Please ensure when submitting this document/attaching it to your application profile you name it with the vacancy reference number.
If candidates do not provide written evidence of meeting all the essential criteria then their application will not be progressed.

Cardiff School of Psychology

We are dedicated and passionate about teaching and conducting research in psychology. Our school is long established, well resourced, and has an excellent international reputation. We take an inclusive approach to education and fully support our students in achieving their learning goals.

We have a wide variety of academic staff, many of whom are professors conducting research at the forefront of psychology. In addition, we have both full and part-time research staff along with a substantial professional services support team.

We currently occupy all floors of the 12-floor Tower Building on the main University campus, together with additional Research Centres, CUCHDS, WICN Occupational and Health Psychology, and CUBRIC, our £44 million brain imaging and research centre.

We have been awarded the Athena SWAN silver award which recognises and celebrates supporting women in science, engineering and technology (SET) in higher education and research.

Research
Our internationally leading research delivers advances in knowledge and improvements in quality of life and in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) our research quality was ranked 2nd in the UK for Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

We undertake interdisciplinary scientific research under four contemporary research themes: Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Social & Environmental Psychology and, Developmental Health Psychology.
These four broad themes support ten smaller research groups that aim to understand the psychological and biological foundations of animal and human behaviour at both individual and group levels. The research undertaken in the School ranges from 'synapse to society', and includes normal behaviour in development and adulthood, the breakdown of cognition after stress, trauma and in neurological and/or genetic conditions, as well as key psychological issues of broad importance to society, such as prejudice, reproductive health and optimising performance at work.

Teaching
We are one of the largest psychology departments in the UK, allowing us to offer well-resourced teaching and research opportunities in all areas of psychology, from neuroscience and brain imaging to social and developmental psychology, encompassing both basic science and applied aspects.

We offer a stimulating and rewarding place to teach, and Cardiff is a vibrant, growing capital city surrounded by outstanding natural beauty. These two qualities present unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional development.

Whether you come here to work, study or partner with our team of world-leading researchers you’ll be working with us to shape the profession of Psychology and improve patients' lives.

Job Category

Academic - Research