Research Technician

About us

The Alzheimer's Research UK Drug Discovery Institute at University College London (ARUK UDDI) is a member of the Alzheimer’s Research UK-funded Dementia Discovery Alliance (DDA) - a successful trilogy of institutes (alongside Oxford and Cambridge) translating cutting-edge academic innovations into medicines for patients living with neurodegenerative diseases. Since being established in 2016, the DDA has evaluated over 60 drug targets, set up over 249 strategic collaborations, received over GBP26M in external grants and spun out a biotechnology company.

The ARUK UDDI is a fully equipped drug discovery centre with access to state of the art, industry-standard capabilities and equipment for discovering and developing new medicines. Embedded in the enriched academic environment of UCL, the ARUK UDDI is positioned to build strong collaborations around cutting-edge approaches to targeting disease biology and rapidly progress ideas into full drug discovery programs.

About the role

We are looking for a Research Technician to join a multidisciplinary team of scientists working on identification and validation of novel and high potential therapeutic targets and later stage compound evaluation to support candidate selection. Along with the broader UDDI team and collaborative network, you will contribute to a broad spectrum of projects and external strategic partnerships enabling the progression of the programs in the pipeline.

You will play a key role in supporting our drug discovery projects. You will help characterise new therapeutic targets in in vitro models and will have the opportunity to run target-based and phenotypic screening assays with imaging, functional or molecular endpoints.

You will be responsible for the generation and analysis of data to enable progression of our drug discovery programmes towards patients.

The post is available now and is fully funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK until 31 October 2025 in the first instance; funding is renewed in five-year tranches subject to successful quinquennial review.

If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact the IoN HR Team (email: ion.hradmin@ucl.ac.uk).

For informal enquiries about the role please contact Dr Fiona Jeganathan (f.jeganathan@ucl.ac.uk).

A full job description and person specification for this role can be accessed below.

About you

Are you committed to transforming the lives of patients with neurodegenerative diseases? Do you want to lead a high performance and creative team on innovative programs and also mentor/coach/develop a broad spectrum of talents in your organisation? If yes, we welcome you to join us at the ARUK DDI at University College London.

You’ll have an honours degree in a biological science, coupled with experience across different assay platforms and in cellular and molecular biology techniques. Strong problem-solving abilities, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to act on your own initiative are also essential for this role.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we offer a competitive salary and 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

The Institute prides itself on operating in an all-inclusive environment irrespective of personal, physical, or social characteristics. Teamwork is highly valued, individual strengths are recognised and celebrated, and we are committed to advancing the careers of everyone. 12% of Institute staff are actively working on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives; visit our EDI website for more information about our initiatives and priorities. The Institute also holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce; these include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled people, LGBTQI+ and gender diverse people in all roles, and women in Grade 9 and 10 roles.