Research Assistant

About us

The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH) The mission of the UCL GOS Institute of Child Health is to improve the health and well-being of children, and the adults they will become, through world-class research, education and public engagement. The UCL GOS ICH, together with its clinical partner Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, forms the largest concentration of children’s health research outside North America. GOS ICH’s activities include active engagement with children and families, to ensure that our work is relevant and appropriate to their needs. GOS ICH generates the funding for our research by setting out our proposals in high quality applications to public, charitable and industrial funding bodies and disseminates the results of our research by publication in the medical and scientific literature, to clinicians, policy makers and the wider public. The Institute offers world-class education and training across a wide range of teaching and life learning programmes which address the needs of students and professional groups who are interested in and undertaking work relevant to child health. GOS ICH holds an Athena SWAN Charter Gold Award.

About the role

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant to join the clinical research team led by Prof Francesco Muntoni at the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, which undertakes high quality research into neuromuscular diseases. You will be part of a small team working on furthering our understanding of how to treat emotional, behavioural and neurodevelopmental difficulties in Duchene Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and in the development of new outcome measures to assess change in these. The primary goals of the project are to: (1) enhance ways of understanding and measuring the emotional, behavioural and neurodevelopmental problems of boys with DMD and the related condition Becker Muscular Dystrophy (BMD); (2) identify optimal outcome measures for future treatment trials that aim to improve psychological functioning in this population. The main duties of the post are to recruit and test participants, collect an enter data and basic statistical analysis. This will involve assisting with a range of cutting-edge measurement methods, including the application of neuropsychological and physiological tests and assisting with brain imaging. There may also be involvement in other relevant research studies within the department. This post offers an exciting opportunity for candidates to be involved in a developing area of psychological research within childhood neuromuscular conditions. The salary of this post is £34,502 pa, and this post is available for 10 months in the first instance.

About you

At least a 2:1 degree in Psychology, Clinical or Cognitive Neuroscience is essential, or a degree in another relevant discipline with experience of working in clinical and/or research psychology. Experience of psychological assessment, psychophysiological tasks (including use of PsychoPy for psychophysiological tasks) and working with children/young people is desirable. The appointment will be subject to successful Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below: • 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) • Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme • Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) • Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan • Immigration loan • Relocation scheme for certain posts • On-Site nursery • On-site gym • Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay • Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service • Discounted medical insurance Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At GOS ICH we aim to always have a balanced interview panel that is representative of gender and ethnic diversity. We particularly welcome female applicants and those from an ethnic minority, as they are under-represented within UCL at this level. If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Madhur Sharma on ich.hr@ucl.ac.uk quoting job reference